Features.

Operating systems.

The Document Foundation developers target LibreOffice for Microsoft Windows (IA-32 and x86-64), Linux (IA-32, x86-64 and ARM) and macOS (x86-64). Community ports for FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and Mac OS X 10.5 PowerPC receive support from contributors to those projects, respectively. LibreOffice is also installable on OpenIndiana via SFE.  Historically predecessors of LibreOffice, back to StarOffice 3, have run on Solaris with SPARC CPUs that Sun Microsystems (and later Oracle) made. Unofficial ports of LibreOffice, versions now obsolete, have supported SPARC. Current unofficial ports of LibreOffice 5.2.5 run only on Intel-compatible hardware, up to for Solaris 11.  In 2011, developers announced plans to port LibreOffice both to Android and to iOS. A beta version of a document viewer for Android 4.0 or newer was released in January 2015; In May 2015, LibreOffice Viewer for Android was released with basic editing capabilities. In February 2020, Collabora released its first officially supported version of LibreOffice (branded as Collabora Office) for Android and iOS.  The LibreOffice Impress Remote application for various mobile operating systems allows for remote control of LibreOffice Impress presentations.

LibreOffice Online.

LibreOffice Online is the online office suite edition of LibreOffice. It allows for the use of LibreOffice through a web browser by using the canvas element of HTML5. Development was announced at the first LibreOffice Conference in October 2011, and is ongoing. The Document Foundation, IceWarp, and Collabora announced a collaboration to work on its implementation. A version of the software was shown in a September 2015 conference, and the UK Crown Commercial Service announced an interest in using the software. On 15 December 2015, Collabora, in partnership with ownCloud, released a technical preview of LibreOffice Online branded as Collabora Online Development Edition (CODE). In July 2016, Nextcloud and Collabora partnered to bring CODE to Nextcloud users. By October 2016, Collabora had released nine updates to CODE. The first source code release of LibreOffice Online was done with LibreOffice version 5.3 in February 2017. In June 2019, CIB software GmbH officially announced its contributions to LibreOffice Online and "LibreOffice Online powered by CIB".

Comparison with OpenOffice.

A detailed 60-page report in June 2015 compared the progress of the LibreOffice project with the related project Apache OpenOffice. It showed that "OpenOffice received about 10% of the improvements LibreOffice did in the period of time studied."

Miscellaneous features.

LibreOffice can use the GStreamer multimedia framework in Linux to render multimedia content such as videos in Impress and other programs.  Visually, LibreOffice used the large "Tango style" icons that are used for the application shortcuts, quick launch icons, icons for associated files and for the icons found on the toolbar of the LibreOffice programs in the past. They were also used on the toolbars and menus by default. Later LibreOffice integrated multiple icon themes to adapt the look and feel of specific desktop environment, such as Colibre for Windows, and Elementary for GNOME.  LibreOffice also ships with a modified theme which looks native on GTK-based Linux distributions. It also renders fonts via Cairo on Linux distributions; this means that text in LibreOffice is rendered the same as the rest of the Linux desktop.  With version 6.2, LibreOffice includes a Ribbon-style GUI, called Notebookbar, including three different views. This feature has formerly been included as an experimental feature in LibreOffice 6 (experimental features must be enabled from LibreOffice settings to make the option available in the View menu).  LibreOffice has a feature similar to WordArt called "Fontwork".  LibreOffice uses HarfBuzz for complex text layout, it was first introduced in 4.1 for Linux and 5.3 for Windows and macOS. Fonts with OpenType, Apple Advanced Typography or SIL Graphite features can be adjusted.

Licensing.

The LibreOffice project uses a dual LGPLv3 (or later) / MPL 2.0 license for new contributions to allow the license to be upgraded. Since the core of the OpenOffice.org codebase was donated to the Apache Software Foundation, there is an ongoing effort to get all the code rebased to ease future license updates. At the same time, there were complaints that IBM had not in fact released the Lotus Symphony code as open source, despite having claimed to. It was reported that some LibreOffice developers wanted to incorporate some code parts and bug fixes which IBM already fixed in their OpenOffice fork.

Scripting and extensions.

LibreOffice supports third-party extensions., the LibreOffice Extension Repository lists more than 320 extensions. Another list is maintained by the Apache Software Foundation and another one by the Free Software Foundation. Extensions and scripts for LibreOffice can be written in C++, Java, CLI, Python, and LibreOffice Basic. Interpreters for the latter two are bundled with most LibreOffice installers, so no additional installation is needed. The application programming interface for LibreOffice is called "UNO" and is extensively documented.

LibreOffice Basic.

LibreOffice Basic is a programming language similar to Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) but based on StarOffice Basic. It is available in Writer, Calc and Base. It is used to write small programs known as "macros", with each macro performing a different task, such as counting the words in a paragraph.

History.

ooo-build, Go-oo and Oracle.

Members of the OpenOffice.org community who were not Sun Microsystems employees had wanted a more egalitarian form for the OpenOffice.org project for many years; Sun had stated in the original OpenOffice.org announcement in 2000 that the project would eventually be run by a neutral foundation and put forward a more detailed proposal in 2001.  Ximian and then Novell had maintained the ooo-build patch set, a project led by Michael Meeks, to make the build easier on Linux and due to the difficulty of getting contributions accepted upstream by Sun, even from corporate partners. It tracked the main line of development and was not intended to constitute a fork. It was also the standard build mechanism for OpenOffice.org in most Linux distributions and was contributed to by said distributions.  In 2007, ooo-build was made available by Novell as a software package called Go-oo (ooo-build had used the go-oo.org domain name as early as 2005), which included many features not included in upstream OpenOffice.org. Go-oo also encouraged outside contributions, with rules similar to those later adopted for LibreOffice.  Sun's contributions to OpenOffice.org had been declining for some time, they remained reluctant to accept contributions and contributors were upset at Sun releasing OpenOffice.org code to IBM for IBM Lotus Symphony under a proprietary contract, rather than under an open source licence.  Sun was purchased by Oracle Corporation in early 2010. OpenOffice.org community members were concerned by Oracle's behaviour towards open source software, the Java lawsuit against Google and Oracle's withdrawal of developers and lack of activity on or visible commitment to OpenOffice.org, as had been noted by industry observers – as Meeks put it in early September 2010, "The news from the Oracle OpenOffice conference was that there was no news." Discussion of a fork started soon after.

The Document Foundation and LibreOffice.

On 28 September 2010, The Document Foundation was announced as the host of LibreOffice, a new derivative of OpenOffice.org. The Document Foundation's initial announcement stated their concerns that Oracle would either discontinue OpenOffice.org, or place restrictions on it as an open source project, as it had on Sun's OpenSolaris.  LibreOffice 3.3 beta used the ooo-build build infrastructure and the OpenOffice.org 3.3 beta code from Oracle, then adding selected patches from Go-oo. Go-oo was discontinued in favour of LibreOffice. Since the office suite that was branded "OpenOffice.org" in most Linux distributions was in fact Go-oo, most moved immediately to LibreOffice.  Oracle was invited to become a member of The Document Foundation. However, Oracle demanded that all members of the OpenOffice.org Community Council involved with The Document Foundation step down from the OOo Community Council, claiming a conflict of interest.

Naming.

The name "LibreOffice" was picked after researching trademark databases and social media, as well as after checks were made to see if it could be used for URLs in various countries. Oracle rejected requests to donate the OpenOffice.org brand to the project.  LibreOffice was initially named BrOffice in Brazil. OpenOffice.org had been distributed as BrOffice.org by the "BrOffice Centre of Excellence for Free Software" because of a trademark issue.

End of OpenOffice.org and beginning of Apache OpenOffice.

Oracle announced in April 2011 that it was ending its development of OpenOffice.org and would lay off the majority of its paid developers. In June 2011, Oracle announced that it would donate the OpenOffice.org code and trademark to the Apache Software Foundation, where the project was accepted for a project incubation process within the foundation, thus becoming Apache OpenOffice. In an interview with LWN in 2011, Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth blamed The Document Foundation for destroying OpenOffice.org because it did not license code under Oracle's Contributor License Agreement. But former Sun executive Simon Phipps denies this is the case:  In March 2015, an LWN.net comparison of LibreOffice with its cousin project Apache OpenOffice concluded that "LibreOffice has won the battle for developer participation".

Mascot competition.

In late 2017 The Document Foundation held a competition for the new mascot of LibreOffice. The mascot was to be used primarily by the community, and was not intended to supersede existing logos for the project. Over 300 concepts were submitted before the first evaluation phase.  Tyson Tan (known for his work on several of KDE's logos) submitted a design he named Libbie the Cyber Oryx. The character was a cybernetic oryx, following in the robotic design of his other mascots. Tan's reasoning for it being an oryx was because LibreOffice and oryxes share a similar story of revival. The character is described as "social, swift, sharp and smart," and as being the public relations manager of The Document Foundation. As the character is an android it can swap parts of its body to glow a different color or have an entirely different appearance. Tan's original concept art included versions of Libbie with colors and poses for each of the LibreOffice programs as well as dark and male versions.  The mascot contest was cancelled soon after new submissions stopped being accepted. The Document Foundation cited their lack of clear rules and arguments among community members as their reasoning for cancelling the contest.

Versions.

Since March 2014 and version 4.2.2, two different major "released" versions of LibreOffice are available at any time, in addition to development versions (numbered release candidates and dated nightly builds). The versions are designated to signal their appropriateness for differing user requirements. Releases are designated by three numbers separated by dots. The first two numbers represent the major version (branch) number, and the final number indicates the bugfix releases made in that series. LibreOffice designates the two release versions as:

Release schedule.

LibreOffice uses a time-based release schedule for predictability, rather than a "when it's ready" schedule. New major versions are released around every six months, in January or February and July or August of each year. The initial intention was to release in March and September, to align with the schedule of other free software projects. Minor bugfix versions of the "fresh" and "still" release branches are released frequently.

Users and deployments.

The figure shows the worldwide number of LibreOffice users from 2011 to 2018 in millions. References are in the text.  2011: The Document Foundation estimated in September 2011, that there were 10 million users worldwide who had obtained LibreOffice via downloads or CD-ROMs. Over 90% of those were on Windows, with another 5% on OS X. LibreOffice is the default office suite for most Linux distributions, and is installed when the operating system is installed or updated. Based on International Data Corporation reckonings for new or updated Linux installations in 2011, The Document Foundation estimated a subtotal of 15 million Linux users. This gave a total estimated user base of 25 million users in 2011. In 2011, the Document Foundation set a target of 200 million users worldwide before the end of 2020.  2013: In September 2013, after two years, the estimated number of LibreOffice users was 75 million. A million new unique IP addresses check for downloads each week.  2015: In 2015, LibreOffice was used by 100 million users and 18 governments.  2016: In August 2016, the number of LibreOffice users was estimated at 120 million.  2018: The Document Foundation estimated in 2018 that there are 200 million active LibreOffice users worldwide. About 25% of them are students and 10% Linux users (who often automatically receive LibreOffice through their distribution). In comparison, Microsoft Office was used in 2018 by 1.2 billion users.

Mass deployments.

LibreOffice has seen various mass deployments since its inception:  2003–2010  2011  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019

Conferences.

Starting in 2011, The Document Foundation has organized the annual LibreOffice Conference, as follows:

LibreOffice is a free and open-source office suite, a project of The Document Foundation. It was forked in 2010 from OpenOffice.org, which was an open-sourced version of the earlier StarOffice. The LibreOffice suite consists of programs for word processing, creating and editing of spreadsheets, slideshows, diagrams and drawings, working with databases, and composing mathematical formulae. It is available in 115 languages.

LibreOffice [] (Abkürzungen LibO oder LO) ist eine freie Zusammenstellung typischer Standardsoftware für Bürotätigkeiten (Office-Paket). Zu LibreOffice gehören Programme für Textverarbeitung, Tabellenkalkulation, Präsentation und zum Erstellen von Zeichnungen. Ein Datenbankmanagementsystem und ein Formeleditor sind ebenfalls enthalten.


Plot.

The film opens with a car with a JATO rocket strapped to it. The movie then shifts to Michael Burrows, a criminal profiler for the San Francisco Police Department. Shot in documentary style, the film is ostensibly a dissertation by a film school grad that follows Michael throughout the story. Fired from the police force after his hematophobia allows a serial killer to get away, Michael wallows in a deep depression for several weeks before coming up with a way to combine his Darwin Awards obsession with his talent for profiling. He will help insurance companies detect people more likely to accidentally end their own lives, so they are not sold insurance policies. After impressing an insurance company manager with his profiling talent, Michael is paired up with Siri, a specialist in strange insurance cases.  Siri and Michael travel the country on behalf of the company, investigating several legendary examples of stupidity, such as the JATO rocket car. A pair of men attempting to ice fish become frustrated and use a stick of dynamite to blast a hole in the ice. The problem is their dog plays fetch with the lit dynamite and runs it back to their brand-new SUV. As they investigate the cases, Michael tries to pinpoint a common factor for these people. The only explanation is a confused monologue by Siri about insurance companies always denying claims and driving people insane. Michael narrowly avoids becoming a Darwin Award winner throughout the movie. He and Siri are stranded in the middle of nowhere on a cold night. Desperate for warmth, he attempts to start a fire with gasoline, causing his car to explode. Siri later confronts Michael, accusing him of being obsessed with the Darwin Awards.  A twist of fate leads to Michael discovering where the murder suspect he originally allowed to escape now lives, as he videotapes the man in his home by rappelling down the side of the building. The film school student is seen for the first time as he, too, is hanging on the side of the building. The problem is his rope is the other end of the same one Michael is dangling by. The stone vase on the roof that the pair is anchored to starts inching closer to the edge. At the same time the serial killer taunts them while slicing open the captive Siri's hand, hoping to trigger Michael's hematophobia. But Michael is able to overcome his fear and defeats the serial killer.

Reception.

The film was poorly received by critics, and received a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics typically complained that the film was formulaic and not funny.

The Darwin Awards is a 2006 American adventure comedy film based on the website of the same name written and directed by Finn Taylor, the film premiered January 25, 2006, at the Sundance Film Festival. The film features Joseph Fiennes, Winona Ryder, David Arquette, Juliette Lewis, Wilmer Valderrama, Chris Penn, Julianna Margulies, Robin Tunney, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Brad Hunt, Adam Savage, Jamie Hyneman and Metallica. This was Chris Penn's last movie before his death on January 24, 2006, the day before the film's premiere. The film includes several full and partial re-enactments of "Darwin Awards", the earliest of which were fictitious, most notably the debunked JATO Rocket Car story.

The Darwin Awards ist eine Filmkomödie des US-amerikanischen Regisseurs Finn Taylor (* 1958) mit Joseph Fiennes und Winona Ryder in den Hauptrollen. Er kam am 25. Januar 2006 in die US-Kinos und hatte sein Debüt auf dem Sundance Film Festival, wo auch Finns erster Film "Dream with the Fishes" 1997 herauskam. Der Film thematisiert ungewöhnliche Todesfälle, die teilweise auf den Darwin Awards beruhen.


Gameplay.

"Wii Music" gameplay focuses on playing and arranging songs through improvisation using various instruments. Similar to how "Wii Sports" simulates playing sports by mimicking the required gestures using the motion sensitive Wii Remote, "Wii Music" simulates playing music by mimicking the actions associated with the different instruments. Like all games in the "Wii" series, the players control Mii characters created using the console's Mii Channel.

Instruments.

The game offers a selection of sixty-six playable instruments, including the violin, drum, cowbell, flute, clarinet, saxophone, harmonica, piano, guitar, trumpet, harp, shamisen, maracas, sitar and marimba, as well as unconventional instruments such as dog and cat sounds, pseudo doo-wop vocals (singer), karate shouts (blackbelt), cheerleader cheers, and 8-bit sounds.  To play each of the instruments, the player mimics the required motions with the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk. Because of the varying techniques required to play different instruments, the instruments in "Wii Music" are divided into "groups" to which certain movements or button presses play single notes. For example, instruments such as keyboards and percussion require the player to swing the controllers as if striking drums; and some string instruments such as the violin and the guitar are played by moving the Wii Remote as if drawing a bow or strumming the strings, while the Nunchuk is held as if the gripping the instrument's neck and fingerboard. The Wii Balance Board can also be utilized in playing the various drum kits, emulating the foot-operated pedals. All instruments have extra playing options, where additional button-presses or restricted movements have different effects on the sound. Softer notes can be played with slower Wii Remote movement, and holding various buttons can create damping, muting, chords, tremolo, arpeggio, and glissando.

Jam Mode.

The game's main feature, Jam Mode, features 50 songs that consist of a combination of classical and traditional songs, seven Nintendo songs, and 15 licensed songs. Before playing the selected song, the players each choose any of the available instruments and then perform as one of six different members of a band; the six available sections are melody, harmony, chord, bass, and two percussion parts. Unoccupied sections are played by computer-controlled "Tute" characters or can be dropped altogether.  Unlike other music games such as "Rock Band" or "Guitar Hero" where players are scored based on playing certain notes at specific times, Jam Mode lacks a scoring system and does not objectively penalize for missing or playing "incorrect" notes nor do players have any control over the pitch of the notes played. Instead, the internal music track for each section of all songs is specially programmed to respond to all possible player actions: the game will attempt to make any notes played be harmonious to the song, including those played outside the original melody. Consequentially, players are encouraged to practice and experiment with different ways to play songs using any arrangement of instruments, either choosing to stick close to the guide or diverge from it and create unique compositions. The quality of the new arrangement is up to the player's judgement. Players can also do what is called an "Overdub" session in which the same song is played again controlling a different musician or instrument; this allows the players to play over the music recorded in previous playthroughs and allows a single player to play all parts of a band. Players can then save their overall performance as a music video for later playback, or share it with other players via WiiConnect24.  "Wii Music" also supplies templates of each song according to existing music genres, such as pop, march, rock, and jazz, and players can take interactive tutorials to learn how to fit a song to a particular style.

Minigames.

Along with the freeform Jam Mode, "Wii Music" features three minigames that feature a scoring system:

Development.

"Wii Music" was first shown, along with the Wii Remote, at the Nintendo press conference at the 2005 Tokyo Game Show. The two minigames briefly featured were "Drums" and "Orchestra". The game was also the first Wii game ever to be demonstrated during Nintendo's E3 2006 press conference, where Shigeru Miyamoto came up to the stage to perform "The Legend of Zelda" Overworld Theme for the audience using the "Orchestra" game. Both "Drums" and "Orchestra" were also made playable to attendees. Additional details of the game were released in conjunction with a Nintendo press conference held on October 11, 2007.  "Wii Music" was showcased during Nintendo's press conference for E3 2008, revealing much more information, including support for the Wii Balance Board to play the drums. It was revealed later on that the game has lessons for the drums programmed in. Miyamoto later announced that more than 61 instruments will be playable in the game, and explained the control scheme that uses the Wii Remote's buttons to play notes on various instrument while holding the Wii Remote in a similar fashion to the actual instrument.

Reception.

Critical.

Critical reception of the game was mixed to positive, with a 63% aggregate score at Metacritic. "Wii Music" was given a score of A- by 1UP.com by Jennifer Tsao, who believed the game has a "surprising depth and flexibility" that rewards players who have mastered the controls. She also felt that the game's four-player custom jam mode was addictive, but lamented the abundance of public domain songs in the soundtrack. This review greatly contrasted the reviews of other editors on 1UP, who complained about a lack of depth and content. It was given 80% by "Official Nintendo Magazine" who praised the surprising depth of the game. GameSpy, who gave it 3.5/5, called the game an "odd duck" and something "more akin to a tech demo or social audio experiment" with little to interest adults, but is simple enough to be accessible to everyone and believed it would be a hit with young children and their families. "Wii Music" also got a 6.5/10 from GameSpot, who said that "Wii Music", while fun and easy to pick up and play, is hard to recommend because older children and adults would only get a few hours of entertainment.  The game received a 5/10 from IGN, who called the game "a noise maker tied to a series of gestures" and cited "gimmicky" controls and poor sound quality, in addition to a "fundamentally flawed" soundtrack. However, they also felt that children may enjoy the game much more than adults, who they believe may "grow bored of the experience in a matter of hours, if not minutes". Game Informer gave the game a 3/10, calling it "a poor solution to an imaginary problem". GameTrailers gave it 5.8/10, criticizing the "ancient" song list and emphasis on video creation.

Sales.

The game sold 92,000 copies in its first week of release in Japan. It is the 30th best-selling game of Japan in 2008. In North America, the game sold around 66,000 copies in around the same period after release. It received a "Gold" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.  Shigeru Miyamoto has stated that the game's sales had not been as strong as originally hoped, with a possible reason for this being competition from established music and rhythm games series such as "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" which are dominating the market. Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing, suggests "Wii Music" will be an "evergreen" title that will see continued sales in the long run. "Wii Music" was the tenth best selling game in the US for the month of November 2008 and the 11th best-selling game in the following month in the United States with more than 480,000 copies sold, and has sold 865,000 units in North America in 2008 according to the NPD Group. As of March 2009, "Wii Music" has sold 2.65 million copies worldwide.

Sequel.

In an interview, Shigeru Miyamoto said ""Wii Music" was a really unique game, and even today, we are receiving several different offers from people in the field of music education. I think it still has great potential." Asked about future plans, Miyamoto could only drop hints. "Unfortunately, we don't have any news we can talk about at the moment. But like Wii Fit Plus, it's not really a sequel to the original Wii Fit – but we have added some features to improve the overall experience. It's kind of an enhanced version."

Wii Music is a music video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game was released in Japan and North America in October 2008, and in Europe and Australia in the following month. "Wii Music" is part of both Nintendo's Touch! Generations brand and the "Wii" series.

Wii Music ist ein Videospiel der Firma Nintendo, das am 14. November 2008 erschienen ist. Es ist ein Musikspiel und enthält 50 Lieder: 8 Klassische Stücke, 22 Traditionelle, 13 sehr beliebte und 7 Videospielmelodien.


Early life.

Martín Cortés was born in 1523 in a former Aztec palace in “New Spain,” now Mexico City, Mexico. His father, conquistador Hernán Cortés, and his mother, Malinche Cortés’s guide, interpreter, and mistress, named him Martín after the god of war and Cortés's father. When Martin was only two years old his mother and father left him in the care of Juan Altamirano, Cortés’s cousin to go on an expedition to Honduras. During the expedition Malinche was wed to another Spaniard by the name of Juan Jaramillo and never again lived with Martín. Hernán thought it was best for Martín to continue to live with Altamirano since that was the home that he had known. When Martín was 6 years old he moved with Cortés to Spain.

Growing up in Spain.

In May 1528, Martín arrived in the harbor of Palos de la Frontera. Cortés was still relatively unknown and did not receive the welcome that one might expect someone of his historical importance to receive. In June 1528, Cortés took Martin on his journey to meet the emperor, Charles V. This proved to be a difficult task, however. According to a letter written two years after this meeting, Cortés writes, "After I kissed your majesty's hands in Barcelona," implying that Cortés met the king in Barcelona. In 1529, Hernán Cortés hired a lawyer to petition Pope Clement VII to legitimize Martín. The pope agreed since he himself had been illegitimate. Martín spent most of his adolescence at the royal court. His exact time spent there is debatable. However, according to letters at the royal court's archives from Martín's tutor, he was still living there in September 1530. After spending time studying at the royal court, Martín became a page under Philip II of Spain in 1537.

The other brother, "don" Martín Cortés.

In 1532, Hernán Cortés had another son, this time with his aristocratic second wife, Spanish aristocrat, "doña" Juana de Zúñiga. He also named this son Martín after his father, but this son had the aristocratic title of "don", a marker that anyone holding it kept from cradle to grave. In October of the same year his half-brother don Martín was born, Martín fell ill. According to letters between Hernán Cortés and his cousin, Francisco de Núñez, he was suffering from lamparones, a disease that was called "the king’s evil" because some thought that the king could cure it. This is a form of tuberculosis known as "scrofula"; however, not many people commonly suffer from it. In the spring of 1540, Cortés returned to Spain for the last time; this was the first time that Martín Cortés, son of Malinche, and don Martín Cortés met. In 1541, Cortés was knighted into the Order of Santiago, and fought to gain Algiers for Charles V. In April 1547, Cortés fought in the Battle of Muhlberg in Germany.

Death of Hernán Cortés and adulthood in Spain.

Hernán Cortés died in Castile, Spain on December 2, 1547. Although Martín Cortés, son of Malinche, was his first-born son, his primary heir was his legitimate son, don Martín Cortés, who succeeded to the title of the Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca. Three years later, in 1550, when Martín was twenty-eight, he spent a year in Europe fighting in the armies of the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1557, Martín Cortés hired a lawyer to sue his brother for certain mines and slaves that were supposedly granted to him by his father 8 years before his death. This was a battle that went on for several years. However, during the process of this battle, Spain passed the New Laws that said that every slave in New Spain was free.

Return to Mexico.

In September 1562, after a terrible voyage, Martín Cortés arrived into the port of San Francisco de Campeche. At the end of January 1562, Cortés and his two half brothers, the other Martín Cortés and Luis Cortés, sailed toward Vera Cruz, the city their father had founded a mere 44 years prior. By February, the Cortés brothers had reached their parents' former home and the birthplace of Martín Cortés, son of Malinche, Tenochtitlán. Being the heir of Hernán Cortés, don Martín Cortés Zuñiga (the legitimate son, not the son of Malinche) was now the Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca.  In 1566, news arrived to Mexico that the "leyes de encomienda" or encomienda laws that changed the "encomienda" system that said at the death of the "encomendero", all his properties would belong to the government and not the family of the deceased. In March 1566, Brothers Gil and Alonso de Ávila held a party at their home in Mexico. This was the spot where what would become known as the "marquis plot" supposedly occurred. The brothers had dressed as Mexican chieftains and paid homage to someone dressed as Hernán Cortés. To the Cortés brothers and their friends, this was simply a charade. However, the Spanish court in New Spain saw it as their attempt to overthrow them.  The Real Hacienda denounced the acts to the Viceroy as a direct attack upon King Philip II, and the conspirators were arrested. Amongst those arrested were Cortés's three sons. Several members of the conspiracy were executed. A few days later, the Viceroy Gastón de Peralta intervened directly and released Cortés's three sons.  On July 16, 1566, guards came to arrest Martín Cortés and bring him to the royal houses. He learned that his brothers, the Ávila brothers, and eighteen other friends had been taken prisoner too. They were being charged with plotting to anoint the marqués, his brother don Martín, as the king of New Spain. He was brought before the judge on the day of his arrest, three days after having been questioned, he sent the judge a petition asking him to either charge him with something or let him go, but nothing happened. Six days later, he tried again, and once again, nothing happened. Finally, thirteen days later, he was charged with having known for ten or eleven months that his brother and other people in his close circle were charged with planning a rebellion and uprising against His Majesty. Alfonso de Ávila and his brother were both publicly beheaded, and in September 1566, the first Cortés brother, Luis, was sentenced to death by beheading.  However, before this could happen, a new viceroy, the Marqués de Falces, arrived in Vera Cruz on November 15, 1567. He allowed both of Martín’s brothers to leave New Spain and for Luis to go serve time in a colony near Algeria while Martin was allowed to plead his case before the king. However, Martín, Malinche's son, stayed in Mexico.  On January 7, 1568, Martín was subjected to torture and was sentenced to indefinite exile in Spain. His torturer was reproached by King Philip II personally, sent back to Spain, and found dead in his room one day after having met with the king. After being exiled from his father's land and his birthplace, he joined the forces of Don Juan, who was Charles V's son, in the Rebellion of the Alpujarras sometime between 1569 and 1570.

Legacy.

Martín was married to Doña Bernaldina de Porras. They had two children: a daughter, Ana Cortés, and a son, Fernando Cortés. Details and dates of Martín's family life do not exist. It is also not entirely clear when Martín died. He died in Spain sometime before the turn of the seventeenth century; 1595 has been mentioned as a possible date. In 1574, the king offered condolences to the children of Hernán Cortés and they were all exonerated of any wrongdoing.

Martín Cortés el Mestizo (; c. 1523 – c. 1595) was the first-born son of Hernán Cortés and La Malinche (doña Marina), the conquistador’s indigenous interpreter and concubine. He is considered to be one of the first mestizos of New Spain and is known as “El Mestizo.” His exact date of birth is not precisely known. Until the birth of Martín's younger brother, don Martín Cortés Zúñiga, to his father and his aristocratic second wife, Martín, son of La Malinche, was Cortés's only male heir, despite his illegitimate birth. He was recognized by his father, and was legitimized in 1529 by a bull of Pope Clement VII (along with his siblings Catalina and Luis). Cortés's first marriage to Catalina Suárez was childless. Martín Cortés grew up in Spain but returned to the New World as a young man. He received a first level education and became Knight of the Order of Santiago, the highest status that could be achieved in Spain. During a time he became the page of Philip II of Spain. He accompanied Philip II to Flanders, to England and in the battle of San Quentin. In 1562 the king left all the towns and properties granted to his father. As heirs of Cortés he and his brother were considered a threat to the vice-regal rule, and they were accused of participating in a plot to overthrow the viceroy. He was arrested and tortured and exiled to Spain where he died.

Martín Cortés (* 1523 (?) in Coyoacán; † 1595 in Madrid) war der erste Sohn des spanischen Eroberers Hernán Cortés und dessen Geliebter Malinche. Er gilt als einer der ersten Mestizen, die von historischer Wichtigkeit waren. Zur Unterscheidung von seinem gleichnamigen Halbbruder wird er im spanischsprachigen Raum auch oft mit dem Beinamen „El Mestizo“ bezeichnet.


Background.

Gutknecht was born in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He graduated from high school in 1969 and was the first member of his extended family to attend college, graduating with a degree in business from the University of Northern Iowa in 1973.  After college, Gutknecht was a school supplies salesman for 10 years. He went to auction college in 1978 and conducted his first real estate auction in 1979.  Gutknecht is married to Mary Catherine Keefe. The couple has three grown children and has lived in Rochester, Minnesota for more than 30 years, where they are members of Pax Christi Catholic Church.

Career in politics.

Minnesota Legislature.

In 1983, Gutknecht was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, where he served until 1994. He was the Republican floor leader for three years.

U.S. House of Representatives.

Gutknecht was elected to the U.S. House in 1994, running for a seat left open when six-term Representative Tim Penny (DFL) retired. He served six terms, in the 104th, 105th, 106th, 107th, 108th, and 109th congresses, but in the November 2006 election lost his attempt to continue for a seventh.  During his tenure in Congress, Gutknecht served as chair of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Operations Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry, vice chair of the Science Committee, and as a member of the Government Reform Committee.  In April 1995, The journal Science quoted Gutknecht's legislative aide Brian Harte as saying the federal effort to study AIDS based on the HIV/AIDS link "will be seen as the greatest scandal in American history and will make Watergate look like a no-fault divorce."  In August 2002, Gutknecht voiced his support for expansion plans by the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad, despite opposition from many constituents in Mankato and Rochester who were concerned about noise and traffic problems.  He was the only Minnesota Republican to vote against the Central American Free Trade Agreement. He cited the sugar beet growers in his district as one reason to oppose the trade bill, which ultimately passed by a vote of 217–215.  He also sponsored legislation that would have legalized drug imports from other countries, despite opposition from the Food and Drug Administration. It passed the House but the provision fell from the final version, largely based on White House opposition and an administration report critical of imports.  In January 2006, Gutknecht also opposed his party's leadership when he called for new elections for all leadership posts except the speaker. He said Republicans needed to win back the trust of the American people in the wake of the Jack Abramoff scandal.  In mid-2006, after returning from Iraq, Gutknecht said that the U.S should partially withdraw troops from that country, again deviating from the Republican administration's stance.  Gutknecht was considered to be the third most conservative member of the Minnesota delegation in the 109th Congress, scoring 92% conservative by a conservative group and 7% progressive by a liberal group. Minnesota Congressional Districts shows the scores for the entire delegation.

Events of 2006 and election defeat.

Gutknecht ran for re-election in 2006. During the 1994 campaign, he had signed the Contract with America, which called for a Constitutional Amendment to limit congressional terms to 12 years. The "contract" called for a vote on this amendment. "If we ever break this contract, throw us out." In 1995, the Supreme Court ruled in "U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton" that congressional term limit laws are unconstitutional, so a constitutional amendment is the only way to implement term limits. Gutknecht voted for such a proposed amendment in 1995, which failed to muster the two-thirds vote for it to move on to the Senate. After Gutknecht was elected in November 1994, he pledged to serve no more than 12 years. In March 1995 he drafted a bill that would bar House members from accruing additional pension benefits after they have served for six terms. "The purpose is to provide one more incentive for people to stay no longer than 12 years," he said.  In November 1999, Gutknecht said he was not sure he would abide by his past recommendation that legislators serve no more than 12 years. He said he still liked term limits in principle, but he noted that the topic was no longer a front-burner issue in the public mind. According to the Associated Press, he "backtracked" from his 1995 term-limit pledge in May 2004, stating that the voters should be the ones making the decision. In March 2005 he announced he was running for a seventh term.  In March 2006, Gutknecht told a group of Minnesota State University, Mankato College Republicans and other students that the role they would take on in the elections in 2006 would be just as pivotal as the part played by Minnesota's 1st Regiment to hold the line at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. "We're asked to stand in that gap and there are big stakes in this election," Gutknecht said. "And remember, had we lost the Battle of Gettysburg, we might have lost the war."  Gutknecht had always chosen to submit filing petitions when running for Congress instead of paying the $300 election filing fee, calling this a more fiscally conservative approach. Gutknecht was the only major party candidate in Minnesota to submit filing petitions in 2006. In August 2006, Louis Reiter of Elgin, Minnesota filed papers with the Minnesota Supreme Court seeking to disqualify Gutknecht from having his name appear on the September 12, 2006 primary ballot. The filing was prepared by DFL election attorney Alan Weinblatt, and argued that all candidates are subject to a time limit for petitions, and that most of the petition signatures were gathered before the July 4–18, 2006 period which the lawsuit claimed was applicable. Gutknecht filed the petitions on July 5, 2006, the first day possible for such filings. He had never previously been challenged on this point. The state Supreme Court heard the case on August 22, 2006 and denied the attempt to disqualify Gutknecht the same day.  On August 17, 2006, WCCO-TV News in Minneapolis reported that members of Gutknecht's campaign made edits to his Wikipedia article. They replaced part of the page with his official congressional biography, removing references to his term-limit pledges. Gutknecht's office used the account "Gutknecht01" to attempt previous edits on July 24; that account was then notified (via its talk page) of Wikipedia policies against self-editing.  Gutknecht defeated Gregory Mikkelson in the Republican primary on September 12, 2006, 87%–13%. Gutknecht was unsuccessful in his bid for a seventh term, losing to DFLer Tim Walz. After the election, Gutknecht was asked about a possible return to politics. He replied "That's a little like asking a woman who's just come out of a 38-hour labor and delivered a 12-pound baby, 'Well, don't you want to get pregnant again?' Not today."

Gilbert William Gutknecht Jr. (born March 20, 1951) is an American politician. Gutknecht was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives first elected in 1994 to represent Minnesota's 1st congressional district, one of eight congressional districts in Minnesota. Gutknecht lost his 2006 reelection bid to DFL candidate Tim Walz, and his term ended in January 2007.

Gilbert William „Gil“ Gutknecht (* 20. März 1951 in Cedar Falls, Black Hawk County, Iowa) ist ein US-amerikanischer Politiker. Zwischen 1995 und 2007 vertrat er den Bundesstaat Minnesota im US-Repräsentantenhaus.


History.

Most of the villages were razed during the time of the Mongols in 1300 – the time of Tamerlane. Few people survived in these villages, during the largest genocide that Syrians experienced in the area. Tamerlane destroyed the churches and monasteries in the area and killed hundreds of bishops, priests and nuns as well as thousands of residents. Abay and Shabai were among the monasteries that were destroyed. Bishop Saliba of Dereiçi wrote a history of the church in 1715 AD.

Christianity.

Dereiçi is one of the oldest villages in the "Turabdin". The village was founded by Syrians. Dereiçi was the first local village to convert to Christianity. "Mor Abay" is a historic monastery located 2 km northwest of the village. According to tradition, St. Abay, originally from Persia, was killed in the village along with two monks by his own father in 360 AD. After murdering his son, St. Abay's father returned to Persia where he became seriously ill with a skin disease. An angel appeared to his wife while she was sleeping and told her that her husband had to return to Kellef and rub his body with the earth where his son's blood was shed. Only then would he become healthy again. The king then went back to the village and did as the angel had demanded. After returning to Persia, he became healthy, converted to Christianity and built the monastery "Mother Abay".  Mother Theodute built the Monastery named "'appeal' El-rose" in the late 700s. Theodute was from the monastery of Qenneshrin. He wandered in Mesopotamia, building monasteries and churches. Eventually, he became bishop of the city of Mardin. When he became ill, he moved to Kellef and built the monastery. People of strong faith with migraines seek out this monastery to be healed.  The Persian physician "Dometius" also lived in Kellef (also known as "Cyrrhe" and "Killis"). After becoming a Christian, he became known locally as a miracle worker. The monastery of "Mother Dimeth" was dedicated to him. He had been a ruler who persecuted the Christians and killed them. Once when he was sleeping, an angel appeared to him and commanded him to cease his persecutions. The angel punished "Dometius" with rheumatism. The next day he rode to the Christian villages where he met a monk who taught him and converted him.  He lived in the monastery for many years and taught Christian doctrine. Later, the angel appeared again to "Dometius" and told him that he would be a miracle worker and cure all kinds of diseases, but especially rheumatism. After this, he travelled around the area and healed the sick. Finally, "Mother Dimeth" (as he later came to be called), return to Kellef, where he later died.  His monastery is located 2 km outside Kellef. The monastery is called "Deyr Deyr rih" in Arabic. Since his death, his tomb has been visited each year by the faithful of neighboring villages seeking cures.

Dereiçi, also called Kıllıt, is a village located 60 km northeast of the city of Mardin in Turkey. It is situated on the old road between Mardin and Cizre. The village is sometimes called "Turabdin's paradise".

Dereiçi ist ein Dorf im Landkreis Savur der türkischen Provinz Mardin. Dereiçi liegt etwa 50 km nordöstlich der Provinzhauptstadt Mardin und 8 km östlich von Savur. Dereiçi hatte laut der letzten Volkszählung 149 Einwohner (Stand Ende Dezember 2009).


Construction.

The stadium design was made by a consortium of Polish and Spanish architectural companies, Estudio Lamela Sp. z o.o, Estudio Lamela S.L., Sener Sp. z o.o. and Sener Ingenieria y Sistemas S.A. The general constructor was the consortium of German Alpine Bau Deutschland AG, Austrian Alpine Bau GmbH and Polish Alpine Construction Polska Sp. z o.o and KPBP „Budus” S.A. Cost was planned at 157 mln PLN. In June 2009, the process of construction began. Firstly, the old Cracovia stadium, built in 1912, was demolished. Construction was completed in September 2010. Cracovia played its first official match in the new stadium on 25 September 2010.

Characteristic.

Overall.

The new stadium is located within the square of these streets: Kraszewskiego, Focha, Kałuży and Zwierzyniec. The exact location has been slightly changed in comparison to the old one. The stadium still occupies the central part of the plot, but now it is parallel to the Focha street.  The stadium is a typical football-specific stadium. The field dimensions are the FIFA standard 105 x 68 meters. The distance between sideline and first row seats varies from 6m (North Stand), by 8m (East & South Stands) to 10m (West Stand). The stadium has three one-level stands and one two-level main stand. The facility is an all-seater and it is fully roofed. The building out of all four corners means that the division into separate stands is not readily visible from the exterior of the building the stadium creates a single compact structure. Height of the stands are respectively 14, 10, 12 and 19 meters

South stand.

South stand is the main stand of the stadium. Capacity is 4691 spectators. This is the only two-level stand in the stadium. The stand is divided into five sections. Three of them are located on the first level and these are: Sections G, E (14 rows each) and a VIP section which can hold 476 people with 11 rows. The other two, Section F and H (with eight and nine rows respectively) are located on the second level of the stand.

West stand.

West stand is located on the side of Ignacego Kraszewskiego Street. It is divided into two sections, I & J. Both have 22 rows. West stand is the largest of the three one-level stands on stadium. Section J is a section prepared especially for guest spectators. Its capacity is 1057 people. The section has its own separated entrance and foyer dedicated only to fans from visiting team.

East stand.

East stand is the smallest stand of the stadium. The main representative square is located between this stand and Kałuży Street. The stand is divided into two standard sections: B (only sectors B4 and B5) and D. This is the place where the most fanatic Cracovia fans supports their team during the matches. Moreover, there are 42 places for disabled persons with another 42 dedicated for their care assistants.

North stand.

The opposite to the main stand, North stand is divided into sections A and B (sectors B1, B2, B3). Each of them have 16 rows.

Marszałek Piłsudski Stadium (formerly Stadion Cracovia or Stadion Cracovii) is a football stadium located in Kraków, Poland. It is used mostly for football matches and it is the home ground of Cracovia. Originally, the first Cracovia stadium was built in 1912. It was demolished in mid-2009. From then until late 2010 entirely new construction was raised in roughly the same location where the old stadium stood. After reconstruction the stadium holds 15,016 people. The stadium meets the criteria for UEFA Category 3

Das Józef Piłsudski Cracovia-Stadion () ist ein Fußballstadion in der polnischen Stadt Krakau (Stadtteil Półwsie Zwierzynieckie), Woiwodschaft Kleinpolen, im Süden des Landes. Es bietet Platz für 15.114 Zuschauer und dient dem Fußballverein KS Cracovia als Heimstätte. Die Anlage ist auch als Stadion Cracovii bekannt und trägt die Spitznamen "Ziemia Święta" () und "El Passo".


Early life.

Wagner attended the Austrian Naval Academy from 1914 to 1917 and served as an Ensign in the Austrian Navy during World War I. He survived the sinking of his ship after it was struck by an enemy torpedo. After the war he returned to his studies, earning a doctorate from the Technical University of Berlin when he was only 23. His doctoral thesis entitled "Origin of the dynamic lift of wings" contained the solution of one of fundamental unsteady aerodynamics problems concerned with lift force on wings that are suddenly set into motion. The result later became known as "Wagner's function".  In the mid-1920s he worked for Rohrbach Metall-Flugzeugbau on new designs for flying boats. During that time he also invented the so-called "Wagner beam", a method of constructing aircraft structural components from sheet metal. Following a short stint as a professor at the Technical University of Berlin, he returned to industry at Junkers Flugzeugwerke, helping to design aircraft and aircraft engines working together with Hans von Ohain. There he played an instrumental role in the development of the first jet engines. He left Junkers following a disagreement with the management, and settled at Henschel Flugzeugwerke in Berlin.

World War II Research.

Wagner helped the computer pioneer Konrad Zuse as an intermediary concerning orders that Zuse got from the Reich Ministry of Aviation.  While at Henschel, Wagner began to study remotely controlled aircraft. In July 1940 he began work on a prototype glide bomb that could be used to attack thinly armored warships and merchant ships. This ultimately evolved into the Hs 293 guided missile, used with considerable effectiveness in late 1943 and early 1944. Several notable successes were achieved, including the first sinking of a ship by a remotely controlled weapon, the destruction of HMS "Egret" on 27 August 1943. Another notable success for the Hs 293 was the sinking of the transport HMT "Rohna" with the loss of over 1000 soldiers, sailors and crewmen.  However, the Allies developed several electronic countermeasures against the Hs 293 and other radio guides weapons, such as electronic jammers. Those and the increasing Allied air superiority prevented the Hs 293 from having any significant impact in the later war years.  He also designed the Henschel Hs 117 "Schmetterling" surface-to-air guided missile.

Post-War Activities.

After the war, Wagner was the first of many German scientists brought to America as part of Operation Paperclip, arriving at Frederick, Maryland on 18 May 1945 with seven large cases of blueprints and other technical data. Wagner and his team were moved to the Special Devices Center, a U.S.-Navy run research unit housed at the Castle Gould and Hempstead House, the former estate of Daniel and Florence Guggenheim at Sands Point, Long Island. There he supported U.S. efforts to deploy glide bombs against Japan.  Wagner then moved to the new Naval Air Missile Test Center in Point Mugu, California, the centerpiece of the U.S. Navy's research into guided missiles. There he helped develop the control mechanisms for advanced missiles, several of which remain (in upgraded forms) in service today. A formerly classified FBI counterintelligence report describes his approach to his work: An excellent German scientist of good character and who is not interested in politics... He has given no evidence of being either pro-Nazi or pro-Communist and is disinterested politically... Once belonged to the German SS for a four week’s instruction course but dropped out of same on his own volition... Is an opportunist who is interested only in science and does not subscribe to any political ideology... Since the death of his wife, Wagner has been drinking considerably but is not a drunkard. Wagner left US government service and formed his own technical consulting firm, HA Wagner Company. He sold this company to Curtiss-Wright in 1957 and returned to Germany to take up a position as professor of Technical Mechanics and Space Technology at the RWTH Aachen University. He continued to serve as technical advisor to several U.S. defense companies during this period. Wagner was awarded the Ludwig-Prandtl-Ring from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Society for Aeronautics and Astronautics) for "outstanding contribution in the field of aerospace engineering" in 1980. He died aged 82 on 28 May 1982.

Herbert Alois Wagner (22 May 1900 – 28 May 1982) was an Austrian scientist who developed numerous innovations in the fields of aerodynamics, aircraft structures and guided weapons. He is most famous for Wagner's function describing unsteady lift on wings and developing the Henschel Hs 293 glide bomb.

Herbert Alois Wagner (* 22. Mai 1900 in Graz, Österreich; † 28. Mai 1982 in Corona del Mar, Kalifornien) war ein österreichischer Luftfahrtpionier.


Other names used.

Other names used for vacuum trucks: vacuum tanker, "Sucker truck" (in Australia) or "Sewer Sucker", "Hydro-vac", or "vac-trucks" (in Canada) or "Exhauster truck" (in Rwanda, Malawi). Slang terms include: "honey truck", "honey sucker" (in India and South Africa), and "honeywagon", all (probably) derived from honey bucket.  When a vacuum truck is used to transport fecal sludge then it can also be called "fecal sludge truck".

Design and configurations.

Commercial vacuum trucks which collect fecal sludge usually have a volume of. However various smaller versions for specialized applications or low-resource settings can be found with tanks as small as.

Pumps.

They generally use a low-volume sliding vane pump or a liquid ring pump to create a negative air pressure. The use of diaphragm mud pumps is less common, but with the advantage of a simpler design and usually lower overall costs. The disadvantage is that mechanical parts come into contact with the sludge, which is not the case for the more common vacuum pumps.  The truck can be configured to be a direct belt drive, or a hydraulic drive system.  There are two different ways to mount the pump: either directly on the truck with the vacuum drive powered by the truck motor, or on the trailer with an independent motor. The second option with the independent motor is more complicated and not commonly used. It has the advantage of potentially having the pump closer to the septic tank. It is also able to use the negative pressure suction side of the pump as well as the positive pressure side to pump sludge over longer distances or lift it higher into the tank.

Suction hoses.

The suction hoses are typically 2" - 4" (or 50mm to 100mm) in diameter with 3" (or 75mm) being the norm. The possible length depends on various factors mainly related to the lift and other pressure losses. It is usually impossible to extend it beyond.  An inherent suction limitation of all suction pumps is that they can only lift a liquid through utilizing atmospheric pressure. For pure water the theoretical maximum lift is approximately. However, due to the viscosity of fecal sludge it is possible to mix air into it either by sucking close from the surface or by adding air with a compressor through a separate hose. Through this process, the overall density of the sludge/air mixture can be reduced below that of pure water and thus a higher lift () can be reached under optimal conditions. Other factors affecting the possible lift and total length of the suction hose are that single stage vacuum pumps only reach an 85-90% partial vacuum, and that small air leakages, pipe friction losses, and the viscosity of the liquid further reduce the possible lift.

Emptying the tanker.

Normally a tanker is emptied by gravity. It is possible to pressurize the vacuum tank to "pressure out" the liquid quicker (or against a small difference in elevation). This procedure is detrimental for the equipment, hence is used in special situations.  The regular discharge time for a tanker of is about 15 minutes (or 7–10 minutes to unload a tanker of ). The outlet is typically in diameter. The discharge time depends on the thickness of the sludge, the size of the outlet valve and hose, the amount of garbage in the fecal sludge, and the frequency of driver cleaning the dump screen.

Uses.

Vacuum trucks are used by town and municipal governments, as well as commercial entities around the world.

Human excreta.

Several types of non-centralized sanitation systems are served by vacuum trucks. They are used to empty septage from cesspits, septic tanks, pit latrines, and communal latrines, for street cleanup, for sewer clean out, and for individual septic systems. The trucks are used in the cleaning of sanitary sewer pumping stations. Vacuum trucks are used to empty portable toilets. In commercial aviation, vacuum trucks are used to collect waste from airplane toilets.  Vacuum trucks discharge these wastes to the sewer network, to a wastewater treatment plant, or—usually illegally, for example in many developing countries— directly into the environment. The latter practice, called "institutionalised open defecation", is dangerous since it constitutes a public health and environmental hazard.

Industrial liquids.

Vacuum trucks are used in the petroleum industry, for cleaning of storage tanks and spills. They are also an important part of drilling oil and natural gas wells, as they are located at the drilling site. Vacuum trucks are used to remove drilling mud, drilling cuttings, cement, spills, and for removal of brine water from production tanks. They dispose of this in sump pits, treatment plants or if within safe levels may be spread in farm fields.

Others.

Vacuum trucks are also used for exposing underground utilities. The ground is jetted with water, and the vacuum truck sucks up the muddy product. This exposes the buried utility without the possibility of damage, as would be possible if a digging machine were used (i.e. tractor backhoe, tracked or wheeled excavator, ditch witches).  Vacuum trucks can also be used for cleanup of contaminated soil.

Examples.

Bangalore, India.

A typical vacuum truck in India has a capacity of and serves about five buildings a day. Assuming a 2-year emptying cycle one truck can cater to about 3,000 to 4,000 buildings or 15,000 to 20,000 people. Vacuum trucks are an alternative to the dangerous and humiliating practice of manual scavenging that became illegal in India with the Manual Scavenging Act of 1993. In the city of Bangalore alone, it is estimated that there were up to 200 such trucks in 2012, serving more than 3 million people. These vacuum trucks are operated by private companies without the need for subsidies. The charge for emptying a septic tank is between 1,200 and 3,000 Rupees (USD 24 and 60) every two years. After three months of composting, a truckload of compost can be sold for 1,500 to 2,000 Rupees (USD 30 to 40). In the Bangalore area, compost is used primarily on banana and coconut trees.  Compost can generate revenues since it replaces expensive fertilizer. If septage is discharged on land for composting, each vacuum truck requires of land for composting.

A vacuum truck or vacuum tanker is a tank truck that has a pump and a tank. The pump is designed to pneumatically suck liquids, sludges, slurries, or the like from a location (often underground) into the tank of the truck. The objective is to enable transport of the liquid material via road to another location. Vacuum trucks transport the collected material to a treatment or disposal site, for example a sewage treatment plant.

Ein Saugwagen (auch "Saugfahrzeug" oder "Vakuumsauger" genannt) ist ein Nutzfahrzeug, mit dem flüssige und pastöse Materialien oder feinkörnige Feststoffe mittels einer Vakuumpumpe abgesaugt werden können; es gehört zu den Tankfahrzeugen. Zusätzlich kann auch Material per Überdruck transportiert – und dann wieder ausgeblasen – werden "(Saug-Druck-Tankfahrzeug)".


Early life.

Wang comes from an artistic family. Her mother, Zhai Jieming, is a dancer and her father, Wang Jianguo, is a percussionist. Both live in Beijing.  Wang began studying piano at age 6. At age 7, she began seven years' study at Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music. At 11, Wang entered the Morningside Music Bridge International Music Festival (at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta) as the festival's youngest student.  At age 15, Wang entered the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied for five years with Gary Graffman and graduated in 2008. Graffman said that Wang's technique impressed him during her audition, but "it was the intelligence and good taste" of her interpretations that distinguished her.

Career.

Early career.

In 1998, Wang won third prize in the Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists in Ettlingen, Germany. In 2001, she won third prize and the special jury prize (awarded to an especially superior finalist of less than 20 years in age, prize money of 500,000 Japanese Yen) in the piano section at the first Sendai International Music Competition in Sendai, Japan.  In 2002, Wang won the Aspen Music Festival's concerto competition.  In 2003, Wang made her European debut with the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Switzerland, playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 under the baton of David Zinman. She made her North American debut in Ottawa in the 2005/06 season, replacing Radu Lupu performing that Beethoven concerto with Pinchas Zukerman conducting.  On September 11, 2005, Wang was named a 2006 biennial Gilmore Young Artist Award winner, given to the most promising pianists age 22 and younger. As part of the award, she received $15,000, appeared at Gilmore Festival concerts, and had a new piano work commissioned for her.  In 2006, Wang made her New York Philharmonic debut at the Bravo! Vail Music Festival. The following season, she performed with the orchestra under Lorin Maazel during the Philharmonic's tour of Japan and Korea.  In March 2007, Wang's breakthrough came when she replaced Martha Argerich in concerts held in Boston. Argerich had cancelled her appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on four subscription concerts from March 8 to 13. Wang performed Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 with Charles Dutoit conducting.

After 2007.

In 2008, Wang toured the U.S. with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields led by Sir Neville Marriner. In 2009, she performed as a soloist with the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, led by Michael Tilson Thomas at Carnegie Hall. Wang performed with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra conducted by Claudio Abbado in Beijing, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Spain and in London, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.  In 2009, Wang performed and recorded Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto in G Minor with Kurt Masur at the Verbier Festival, accompanied by Kirill Troussov, David Aaron Carpenter, Maxim Rysanov, Sol Gabetta and Leigh Mesh. Her performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" is featured on the Verbier Festival highlights DVD from 2008. Wang's "Bumblebee" video has been viewed more than 4.5 million times on YouTube.  In 2012, Wang toured with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Zubin Mehta in Israel and the U.S., with a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York in September.  Wang toured Asia in November 2012 with the San Francisco Symphony and its conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.  In February 2013, Wang performed and recorded Prokofiev's Concerto No. 2 and Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 3 with Conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Venezuelan Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar. Also in 2013, Wang's recital tour of Japan culminated with her recital debut at Tokyo's Suntory Hall.  Wang made her Berlin Philharmonic debut in May 2015, performing Sergei Prokofiev's 2nd Piano Concerto with Conductor Paavo Järvi. The performance was broadcast live through the orchestra's Digital Concert Hall.  In a departure from her previously predominantly Russian repertoire, she played Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9, the "Jeunehomme", in February 2016 at David Geffen Hall in New York on four successive nights with Charles Dutoit conducting, then, in her debut with the Vienna Philharmonic under Valery Gergiev in Munich and Paris. In March 2016, Wang played for three nights in Messiaen's "Turangalîla-Symphonie" with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting. In a recital at Carnegie Hall in May 2016, she played Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29, the, and two Brahms "Ballades" and Robert Schumann's "Kreisleriana".  Wang performed with the National Youth Orchestra of China for its Carnegie Hall premiere on July 22, 2017, with conductor Ludovic Morlot of the Seattle Symphony, performing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor.

Orchestras and performances.

As of 2013, Wang has performed with many orchestras, including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, in the U.S. Internationally, she has performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Berlin, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, China Philharmonic, Filarmonica della Scala, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, the NHK Symphony in Tokyo, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestra Mozart and Santa Cecilia.  In 2019 she played tribute to Kennedy Center Honoree Michael Tilson Thomas with a rendition of "You Come Here Often?".

Discography.

In January 2009, Wang signed a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. She released her first CD, "Sonatas & Etudes" in 2009, followed by "Transformation" in 2010; "Rachmaninov" in 2011; and "Fantasia" in 2012.  In addition, EuroArts released a DVD on which she performs Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, with Abbado conducting.  Wang performed the Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel in Caracas, Venezuela, in February 2013. A recording of this performance was released in December 2013 on Deutsche Grammophon.  Although there are reports Wang released a debut CD in 1995, there is little information available about it.

Reviews.

In a review of Wang's 2011 Carnegie Hall debut, "The New York Times" wrote:  From the opening piece, an early Scriabin prelude, Ms. Wang played this Chopinesque music, all rippling left-hand figures and dreamy melodic lines, with a delicacy, poetic grace and attention to inner musical details that commanded respect.  After intermission she offered a rhapsodic, uncommonly nuanced account of the formidable Liszt Sonata in B minor. But the most revealing performance came in Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 6 in A. Completed in 1940, this nearly 30-minute work channels some barbaric, propulsive, harmonically brittle outbursts into a formal four-movement sonata structure. In most readings, intriguing tension results from hearing music of such aggressive modernism reined in by Neo-Classical constraints. Ms. Wang reconciled these conflicting elements through a performance of impressive clarity and detail.  In June 2012, Joshua Kosman of the "San Francisco Chronicle" wrote that Wang is "quite simply, the most dazzlingly, uncannily gifted pianist in the concert world today, and there's nothing left to do but sit back, listen and marvel at her artistry."  From a May 2013 Carnegie Hall concert, "The New York Times" reported that Wang's "fortissimos were fearsome, but so, in a quieter way, were the longing melodic lines of the first movement of Rachmaninoff's Sonata No. 2." The reviewer added:  The liquidity of her phrasing in the second movement of Scriabin's Sonata No. 2 eerily evoked the sound of woodwinds. In that composer's Sonata No. 6 she juxtaposed colors granitic and gauzy to eerily brilliant effect before closing the written program with a rabid rendition of the one-piano version of "La valse", accentuating the sickliness of Ravel's distorted waltzes.  In May 2016, "The New York Times" reviewed her performance of Beethoven's "Hammerklavier Sonata":  Ms. Wang's virtuosity goes well beyond uncanny facility. Right through this Beethoven performance she wondrously brought out intricate details, inner voices and harmonic colorings. The first movement had élan and daring. The scherzo skipped along with mischievousness and rhythmic bite. In the grave, great slow movement, she played with restraint and poignancy. She kept you on edge during the elusive transition to the gnarly, dense fugue, which she then dispatched with unfathomable dexterity.  This was not a probing or profound "Hammerklavier". But I admired Ms. Wang's combination of youthful energy and musical integrity. Wang has received attention for her eye-catching outfits and glamorous stage presence as well as for her piano playing. In a much-quoted 2011 review of a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, "Los Angeles Times" classical music critic Mark Swed wrote:  But it was Yuja Wang's orange dress for which Tuesday night is likely to be remembered... Her dress Tuesday was so short and tight that had there been any less of it, the Bowl might have been forced to restrict admission to any music lover under 18 not accompanied by an adult. Had her heels been any higher, walking, to say nothing of her sensitive pedaling, would have been unfeasible. Swed was widely criticised for this aspect of his review, as in a "Washington Post" article titled "Which offends? Her short dress or critic's narrow view?".

Yuja Wang (; born February 10, 1987) is a Chinese classical pianist. She was born in Beijing, began studying piano there at age six, and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. By the age of 21, she was already an internationally recognized concert pianist, giving recitals around the world. She has a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, she said: “For me, playing music is about transporting to another way of life, another way of being. An actress does that.” Yuja Wang lives in New York City.

Yuja Wang ([]; ; * 10. Februar 1987 in Peking, Volksrepublik China) ist eine chinesische Pianistin, die in den USA lebt.


Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area

History.

The first Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area was signed by Denmark, Finland, West Germany, East Germany, Poland, USSR and Sweden in 1974 and entered into force on 3 May 1980. A new convention was signed in 1992 by Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Estonia, the European Community, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. The Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1992, entered into force on 17 January 2000.

Summary of Provisions.

The States-Parties to the Convention agreed individually or jointly to take all appropriate legislative, administrative or other relevant measures to prevent and eliminate pollution in order to promote the ecological restoration of the Baltic Sea Area and the preservation of its ecological balance.  The Parties undertake to apply:  The aim of the States-Parties to the Convention is to prevent and eliminate pollution of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea Area caused by harmful substances from all sources, including:  The States-Parties to the Convention are obligated to notify and enter into consultations with each other when an environmental impact assessment of a proposed activity is likely to cause a significant adverse impact on the marine environment of the Baltic Sea Area. Similarly, they are to notify and consult each other whenever a pollution incident in their territory is likely to cause pollution to the marine environment of the Baltic Sea Area outside its territory and adjacent maritime area.  The Convention sets up a Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM)(originally set up pursuant to the first Helsinki Convention, its functions subsequently reviewed), whose responsibilities are to implement the Convention, make recommendations to the Parties, define pollution control criteria and objectives and promote additional measures in co-operation with respective governmental bodies of the Parties.  The Parties also undertake to implement measures to maintain adequate ability and to respond to pollution incidents in order to eliminate or minimize the consequences of these incidents and regularly report to the HELCOM commission on and inform the general public of the measures taken in accordance with the Convention.

Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1992 (Helsinki Convention) is an international convention encompassing various measures for the prevention and elimination of pollution of the Baltic Sea.

Die Helsinki-Konvention ist ein multilaterales Umweltabkommen zum Schutze der Ostsee. Die Konvention wurde 1999 bei der HELCOM hinterlegt und trat am 7. Januar 2000 in Kraft und ersetzte damit den Vorgänger, die Helsinki-Konvention (1974) Erweitert wurde die Helsinki-Konvention durch Ergänzungen in den Jahren 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007 und 2013.


Plot.

Inside a small shack, a robed figure —dubbed "God Killing Himself" in the film's credits— disembowels himself using a straight razor. After removing some of his internal organs, the character dies. A woman, Mother Earth, emerges from his mutilated remains. She brings the corpse to arousal and uses his semen to impregnate herself. Time passes and Mother Earth, now visibly pregnant, stands beside a coffin containing God's corpse. Wandering off into a vast and barren landscape, Mother Earth later gives birth to Son of Earth, a malformed convulsing man. He is soon abandoned by his mother, who leaves him to his own devices.  After an untold period of time wandering across the barren landscape, the Son of Earth encounters a group of faceless

Cast.

Members of Merhige's theater company Theatreofmaterial – which included Adolpho Vargas, Arthur Streeter, Daniel Harkins, Erik

Themes.

Critics have identified several major themes in "Begotten". In interviews, Merhige himself has acknowledged that he intentionally incorporated these themes into the film, while also inviting viewers to form their own interpretations of the film.

Death and rebirth.

Several critics have noted that "Begotten" contains an underlying theme of death and rebirth, recurring throughout most of the director's works. In an interview with Marty Mapes of "Movie Habit", Merhige stated, "I've always believed in the continuity of consciousness. I don't think the body dying means it's over. It just means that there's a transformation taking place. So what we call physical death is not something that I think is some sorrowful loss."  In her review of Merhige's third film "Suspect Zero" for the "Los Angeles Times", Elaine Dutka noted that themes of death and rebirth, that appeared throughout the director's works might have been inspired by a near-death experience Merhige had suffered during his youth at age nineteen. Author and independent filmmaker John Kenneth Muir pointed out the film's ideas of suffering, death, and rebirth,

Religion, mythology, and the occult.

Many critics have pointed out the film's incorporation of various religious and mythological themes and events from Christian, Celtic, and Slavic mythology including various Creation myths, Mother Earth, and other religious themes, on which the events that take place in the film are loosely based. Merhige himself has acknowledged that the film was deliberately arranged to appear as part of a mythology. According to film and literary scholar William E.B. Verrone, "Begotten"s core storyline was a mixture of ancient mythologies that dealt with stories and themes, such as the birth of a divine entity and their subsequent suffering through various means, citing the film as "a cryptic passion play about Earth’s birth and torture". Verrone went on to explain that the film's highly symbolic and metaphorical plot was intended to evoke a response different than that offered in more traditional cinematic offerings. Art historian Scott MacDonald pointed out that the film's highly allegorical plot represents many of the popular

Influences.

Several critics have pointed out possible influences for the film's visual style. Merhige himself has cited the theories and ideas of Antonin Artaud and Friedrich Nietzsche, which in his opinion had not been developed on film to the fullest extent, as well as the works of Bosch, Goya, Munk, Eisenstein, and Buñuel. In a 1993 interview with art historian Scott MacDonald, Merhige also listed Georges Franju's documentary short "Blood of the

Production.

Development and pre-production.

"Begotten" was written, produced, and directed by Merhige, with development for the film beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, although some sources list the date as 1984. Merhige had studied at New York State University, and soon developed an interest in the theater after attending several performances while in Manhattan. Merhige would later state in an interview that he had been drawn towards the use of performers creating a highly visualized form of storytelling through dramatic movement to provoke, what Merhige called, "an

Filming.

Principal photography took place in the mid-to-late 1980s, over a period of three-and-a-half months in several different locations. Merhige filled multiple roles in the film's production, including work on cinematography, and special effects, the latter using a 16mm Arriflex camera on black-and-white reversal film. He had previously worked on several short film subjects before developing "Begotten". The opening sequence depicting the robed figure (listed in the credits as "God Killing Himself") disemboweling himself and Mother Earth emerging from his remains was the first to be shot. The sequence was then edited and shown to the cast and crew, whose reactions to the footage was very enthusiastic, with Merhige stating: "it proved to everyone that this "was" an important film, that there really was nothing else like it, and we were actually going to make it happen." Most of the cast and crew were paid little to nothing, with their forms of

Post production.

"Begotten" contains no dialogue, having been envisioned by Merhige as a film depicting "a time that predates spoken language—communication is made on a sensory level." Merhige had previously worked as a special effects designer for various different companies, including a brief job where he performed rotoscoping for a Disney television show, and knew how to create the visual effects needed for the film. In order to create the desired look and feel, Merhige would experiment with the reel during filming to give it an old, withered look. This included running the unshot negative through sandpaper in order to scratch it up before shooting. Still unsatisfied with the overall effect, Merhige decided to use an optical printer but was unable to find one within budget. The optical printer was constructed over a period of eight months by Merhige himself, who would use old spare parts acquired from camera stores and special effects houses where he had occasionally worked. Merhige would later use this technique — which he called "rephotography" — in his following film, "Shadow of the Vampire".  The editing process proved to be the most time-consuming, as each minute of footage generated by the optical printer took on

Release.

Distribution.

Once editing for "Begotten" was completed, Merhige spent two years trying to find a distributor willing to market and release it. Merhige screened the film to possible distributors but most refused to release the film as it did not fit into a specific genre, making it difficult to bring the film to market. Merhige later recalled, "When I first went looking for distribution, everyone laughed at me, saying 'We don't know what this is...'" Merhige then took it to a number of museums in hopes of eventually finding a distributor. In the end, only two showed

Theatrical release.

"Begotten" was shown for the first time at the Montreal World Film Festival on October 26, 1989. The film would later have screenings at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and the Berlin Film Festival in the early to mid 1990s. Its first official premiere took place at the Museum of Modern Art in the fall of 1990. New York City's Film Forum would also screen the film on June 5, 1991. It was exhibited several years later at the Stadtkino Theater in Vienna in 1992, as a part of a retrospective of American independent cinema titled "Unknown Territories".  On October 20, 2014, it was

Home media.

"Begotten" had received very limited home media distribution after its theatrical release, with current copies of the film being out of print and difficult to acquire. Initially, Merhige did not intend for the film to be released on home video, stating in an interview with Scott MacDonald that he had previously hated the concept of home video as a medium. Merhige eventually changed his mind and felt that the original soundtrack mix, with which he had not been completely satisfied, could be enhanced through the medium. The film was briefly released on VHS by World Artists Home Video

Reception.

Critical reception.

"Begotten" has received little to no attention from film critics, with most mainstream reviewers ignoring the film entirely. Merhige was initially afraid that audiences would misunderstand parts, or the entire film altogether, "When I finished the film, I felt sure it would be misunderstood and consigned to the underground again. I see it as a very serious, very beautiful work of art, but when it was first finished, I was always thinking, 'What if everybody just laughs? What if they don't see anything in it?' There is always that possibility." Reactions to the film upon

Legacy.

"Begotten" has gradually developed a cult following over the years and is considered by some to be the director's masterpiece. In their analytical book on cult cinema, film scholar Ernest Mathijs and art historian Xavier Mendik cited the reasons for the film's cult status were due to its severely limited availability, with much of its exposure being through the distribution of bootleg copies which they called a "copy-cult". The film was reportedly banned in Singapore due to its graphic and disturbing content.  "Begotten" has been included in multiple lists at various media outlets. In 2012, "Complex" included the film on its list of "50 Most Disturbing Movies". Sarah Gibson from Highsnobiety listed it in her "10 of the Most Damaged and Disturbing Movies Ever Made". It was placed at #10 on AskMen's "10 Hard-To-Stomach Horror Movies", stating that the film was "so miserable that it likely wouldn't have seen the light of day were it not for Susan Sontag". "Taste of Cinema.com" listed it at #13 in its "20 Most Disturbing Movies of All Time", summarizing, ""Begotten" possesses a haunting, atmospherically visceral quality that has yet to be surpassed... Combine Merhige's avant-garde film style with sequences of torture and unsettling imagery, and you get one of the most shocking experimental pictures of all time." It was placed at #4 on "Nylon"'s "8 Most Disturbing Horror Films Ever Made". In his article "10 Horror Movies Too Intense Even for Halloween", "ScreenRant"s Jason Wojnar ranked the film at #8, citing its unsettling imagery, unconventional narrative, and visual style "makes it hard to tell what is even happening during the unsettling events." "Entertainment Weekly" included the film in its "13 of the Most Disturbing — and Critically Acclaimed — Movies to Ever Hit Theaters", describing it as "kind of like if Alejandro Jodorowsky told the story of creation filtered through the lens of "Eraserhead"." In his book "Disorders of Magnitude: A Survey of Dark Fantasy", author Jason V. Brock listed the film at #7, and as one of his favorite Radio, Film, and/or Television Productions. Several sources have mistakenly reported that "Time" ranked "Begotten" in its top-ten list of either 1990 or 1991, but the film was not included either year.  The film's critical success also proved to be a starting point for Merhige's filmmaking career, who would go on to make the much praised "Shadow of the Vampire" and "Suspect Zero", although the latter was a critical and commercial failure. Actor Nicolas Cage, the producer of "Shadow of the Vampire", had pushed for the director's hiring after viewing a copy of "Begotten".  Merhige was later hired by singer Marilyn Manson to direct music videos for his songs "Antichrist Superstar" and "Cryptorchid", the latter utilizing imagery that was heavily incorporated from "Begotten". Manson was a huge admirer of "Begotten", which he called "one of the strangest and scariest films I've seen", and had personally contacted Merhige to ask him if he would be willing to direct the music video for his song "Cryptorchid". Manson has stated that "Begotten" was played on a loop during the entire recording for his album "Antichrist Superstar". The music video for "Cryptochid" premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 1997 where it won a Golden Gate Certificate of Merit Award. It was subsequently barred from release by Interscope Records, whom Manson claimed were "appalled by it", due to its fascist iconography, namely the Nuremberg rallies, along with U.S. military footage and images of a Ku Klux Klan lynching. "Cryptorchid" was also beset with troubles and remained unreleased until it was leaked on YouTube in 2010. Merhige has since become a prominent member of the theatre, directing numerous stage plays which include "A Dream Play", an adaption of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and "Waiting for Godot".

"Din of Celestial Birds".

"Begotten" is considered by Merhige as the start of an unofficial series. The second film in the series, a 14-minute short titled "Din of Celestial Birds", was shot in a similar visual fashion as "Begotten". As with the film's predecessor, Merhige fulfilled multiple roles during its production, functioning as the writer, director, and producer. Funding for "Din of Celestial Birds" came through the cooperation of the Q6 production group, a collective of philosophers and artists. According to Merhige, inspiration for "Din of Celestial Birds" came from silent films, such as Jean Cocteau's "Blood of a Poet" (1930), Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" (1927), and the

Influence.

Since its release, "Begotten" has become a minor influence on several avant-garde and experimental films, and has been cited by several artists as inspiration for some of their works.  Michael Pope's acclaimed 2001 experimental film "Neovoxer" has been compared to "Begotten", featuring a similar visual style and "impressionistic mythology". According to Panos Cosmatos the flashback sequences in his 2010 film "Beyond the Black Rainbow" were directly inspired by "Begotten". When interviewed by "SmellsLikeScreenSpirit.com", Cosmatos stated that he had wanted the flashback sequences to 'have the look and feel of an artifact that was in the process of deterioration', and "Begotten"s visual style was the perfect look for these sequences. Kyle Turner from Mubi.com compared the 2015 experimental film "Ville Marie" as being very similar to Merhige's film in terms of cinematic style, and use of reverse-exposure.  Certain scenes in Can Evrenol's 2015 surrealist horror film "Baskin" were compared to "Begotten". In an interview with Muzzeland Press, visual artist and

Begotten is a 1989 American experimental dark fantasy horror film written, produced, edited and directed by Edmund Elias Merhige. It stars Brian Salsburg, Donna Dempsy, Stephen Charles Barry, and members of Merhige's theatre company Theatreofmaterial. The film contains no dialogue and mimics the style of aged black-and-white films. Its enigmatic plot, drawn from elements of various creation myths, opens with the suicide of a Godlike figure and the births of Mother Earth and the Son of Earth, who set out on a journey of death and rebirth through a barren landscape. According to art historian Scott MacDonald, the film's allegorical qualities and purposeful ambiguity invite multiple interpretations.

Begotten ist ein Experimental- bzw. Horrorfilm, der 1990 von E. Elias Merhige geschrieben und produziert wurde. "Begotten" war von Merhige von Anfang an als erster Teil einer Trilogie geplant. Der zweite Teil, der 14-minütige Kurzfilm "Din of Celestial Birds", kam 2006 heraus.


Club career.

Barcelona.

Born in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, Andalusia, Nolito arrived at Barcelona's youth academy at nearly 22 years of age, having appeared with Écija in his native region in two third division seasons. With the Catalans, in the same level, he scored 16 league goals in two seasons combined – 12 in the second– as the B-team returned to the second level after an 11-year absence; still as a youth, he briefly represented Valencia, but quickly returned to his first club Atlético Sanluqueño.  On 3 October 2010, Nolito made his La Liga debut for Barcelona, coming on as a substitute for Pedro in a 1–1 home draw against Mallorca. On 10 November, he opened the scoring in a 5–1 home win over Ceuta in the campaign's Copa del Rey (7–1 on aggregate).

Benfica.

In late May 2011, Nolito rejected Barcelona's offer of a professional contract and instead signed a five-year deal with Portuguese club Benfica, effective as of 1 July. He scored on his official debut on the 27th, a 2–0 home win against Trabzonspor in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. He also netted in the second leg, a 1–1 draw.  On 20 August 2011, Nolito scored once in a 3–1 home victory over Feirense, making him alongside Eusébio the only player to score in his first five official matches. He netted 15 goals in 48 competitive appearances in his first season, helping his team to win the Taça da Liga.  Nolito returned to his country and his native region on 29 January 2013, being loaned to Granada for six months and a fee of €600,000, without the possibility of making the move permanent in June. In his first match, four days after signing, he took the corner which resulted in Cristiano Ronaldo's own goal for the game's only goal, giving Granada its first win over Real Madrid in 40 years.

Celta.

Nolito signed with Celta de Vigo on 1 July 2013, penning a four-year deal and reuniting with former Barcelona B boss Luis Enrique. He finished his debut season as team top scorer, with 14.  Nolito was named La Liga Player of the Month for September 2014, with four goals during a month which ended with Celta in sixth position. He created 96 goalscoring opportunities over the campaign, the most in the Spanish league and fourth most in Europe's five leading leagues.  On 23 September 2015, Nolito took his league tally to five after scoring once and providing two assists for Iago Aspas in a 4–1 home defeat of former club Barcelona. He totalled three goals and an assist that month to help his team remain unbeaten, earning him a second Player of the Month accolade; in mid-December, however, he suffered a hamstring injury against Espanyol which sidelined him for two months.  Nolito returned to action on 20 February 2016, featuring roughly 20 minutes in a 3–2 home win over Eibar. In the following round, he scored the game's only goal at Getafe, and his team eventually finished in sixth place.

Manchester City.

On 1 July 2016, Nolito signed with Premier League side Manchester City on a four-year deal for a fee of £13.8 million. He made his debut on 13 August, playing 59 minutes in a 2–1 home win against Sunderland. Three days later he scored his first goal, and also provided an assist to Sergio Agüero in a 5–0 away routing of Steaua București in the Champions League play-off round.  Nolito made a few appearances during his time in Manchester, but he and his family were unsettled by life in England.

Sevilla.

In July 2017, Sevilla signed Nolito on a three-year contract. He spent the better part of the 2018–19 season on the sidelines, nursing a fibula injury.

Return to Celta.

On 18 June 2020, Nolito rejoined Celta on a reported one-year deal. His Sevilla contract was set to expire at the end of the month, and the former were granted an emergency exception to acquire him outside of the transfer window because of a long-term injury to goalkeeper Sergio Álvarez.

International career.

Nolito did not earn a single cap for Spain at youth level. On 7 November 2014, he was called up by full side manager Vicente del Bosque for a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Belarus and a friendly with Germany. He made his debut against the latter on the 18th, starting at his club ground of Balaídos in a 0–1 loss.  On 17 May 2016, Nolito was named in the preliminary squad for the final tournament in France. Twelve days later, in a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina, he scored his first goals, striking twice in the first half of a 3–1 win in Switzerland. he repeated the feat the following match, a 6–1 rout of South Korea in Austria.  Selected for the squad of 23, Nolito acted often as starter, scoring from close range in a 3–0 group stage victory over Turkey at the Stade de Nice and also assisting Álvaro Morata for the opener.

Career statistics.

International goals.

(Spain score listed first, score column indicates score after each Nolito goal)

Honours.

Club.

Barcelona  Benfica

Manuel Agudo Durán (; born 15 October 1986), known as Nolito (), is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger or a forward for RC Celta de Vigo and the Spain national team.

Nolito (* 15. Oktober 1986 in Sanlúcar de Barrameda; bürgerlich "Manuel Agudo Durán") ist ein spanischer Fußballspieler, der bei Celta Vigo unter Vertrag steht.