Solitude

Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, i.e., lack of contact with people. It may stem from bad relationships, loss of loved ones, deliberate choice, infectious disease, mental disorders, neurological disorders or circumstances of employment or situation (see castaway).

Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think or rest without being disturbed. It may be desired for the sake of privacy.

A distinction has been made between solitude and loneliness. In this sense, these two words refer, respectively, to the joy and the pain of being alone.

Health effects

Symptoms from complete isolation, called sensory deprivation, often include anxiety, sensory illusions, or even distortions of time and perception. However, this is the case when there is no stimulation of the sensory systems at all, and not only lack of contact with people. Thus, by having other things to keep one's mind busy, this is avoided.

Still, long-term solitude is often seen as undesirable, causing loneliness or reclusion resulting from inability to establish relationships. Furthermore, it might even lead to clinical depression. However, for some people, solitude is not depressing. Still others (e.g. monks) regard long-term solitude as a means of spiritual enlightenment. Indeed, marooned people have been left in solitude for years without any report of psychological symptoms afterwards.

Solitude (Blacksburg, Virginia)

Solitude is a historic home located on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia. The earliest section was built about 1808, and expanded through the mid-19th century. It is a two-story, "L"-shaped, five bay, log and frame dwelling with a hipped roof. Also on the property are the contributing stone spring house with log superstructure and log kitchen or office. In 1872, the Solitude land became the central campus of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College, and the house, after the death of its owner in the following decade, was used for faculty housing until the 1970s, when it became a classroom and office facility. The house is situated in a landscaped park adjacent to the central campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

After Solitude's listing on NRHP, decade-long research and archaeology commenced to further study the main house, property, and overall site to extrapolate further historical information and evaluate what would be needed to restore the house and outbuildings. These efforts culminated in a 2000 Master's thesis by Michael Pulice, a then-Master's of Science candidate in Virginia Tech's Architecture Department, now the chief architectural historian for the Western Regional office (Salem, VA) of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Pulice concluded in his thesis that the remaining log outbuilding, long believed to be either a doctor's office or kitchen, is a surviving slave cabin and servants quarters.

Frank Duval

Frank Duval (born November 22, 1940, Berlin) is a German composer, conductor, record producer, songwriter and singer.

Born into an artists' family, he studied as an actor and dancer, but also sang with his sister, Maria. By the 1960s, Duval was also composing music, both orchestral and pop, and his first soundtrack, for an episode of the German serial Tatort, was broadcast in 1977. From his 1979 first album, Die Schönsten Melodien Aus Derrick und der Alte, the song "Todesengel" became a moderate hit.

During the 1980s, Duval released several soundtracks, as well as proper artist albums (with occasional lyrical help from his wife, Kalina Maloyer). He was in the German charts several times, with "Angel of Mine" (a number one hit in 1981), "Ways" (1983), "Lovers Will Survive" (1986), and "When You Were Mine" (1987).

Duval wrote songs for Ivan Rebroff, Alexandra, Karin Huebner, Margot Werner, Klaus Löwitsch, and Maria Schell.

Albums

Glad (band)

GLAD is one of the pioneers of Christian pop/rock and a cappella music, having formed as a progressive rock group in 1972 and discovered a large audience for their a cappella music in 1988. Today, with over 1.5 million albums sold, they continue to perform concerts and release occasional recordings. As Contemporary Christian Music (CCM Magazine) described it, "GLAD's elegant vocals helped set them apart from other pioneers of Contemporary Christian music. That vocal sound has since evolved into a complex, self-sustaining life form of its own..."

History

GLAD formed on the campus of West Chester State University of Pennsylvania when singer Ed Nalle auditioned for a new Christian band. Nalle, along with Bob Kauflin would write and produce much of GLAD's early material in addition to his role as lead vocalist. The other members (from Temple University in Philadelphia) were Kauflin (keyboards, vocals), T. Coble (bass, vocals), Don Nalle (bass and lead vocals ) John Bolles (guitar, vocals), and Brad Currie (drums). The group's name was chosen from a poll taken at a shopping mall. Playing over 200 dates annually at college campuses, churches and concert halls throughout the United States, GLAD released their first two albums on Myrrh Records: GLAD (1978) and Beyond a Star (1980). Brothers Wayne Scott Farley (guitar, vocals) and Mark Farley (drums) briefly joined the group to record the latter album, Beyond a Star.

Glad (duke)

Glad (Bulgarian: Глад, Hungarian: Galád, Romanian: Glad, Serbian: Глад) was the ruler of Banat (in present-day Romania and Serbia) at the time of the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin around 900, according to the Gesta Hungarorum. The Gesta, which was written by an author known in modern scholarship as Anonymus in the second half of the 12th century or in the early 13th century, is the earliest extant Hungarian chronicle. The Gesta did not refer to the enemies of the conquering Hungarians, or Magyars, who had been mentioned in earlier annals and chronicles, but wrote of a dozen persons, including Glad, who are unknown from other primary sources of the Hungarian Conquest. Therefore, modern historians debate whether Glad was an actual enemy of the conquerors or only a "fictitious person" made up by Anonymus. In Romanian historiography, Glad is described as one of the three Romanian dukes who ruled a historical region of present-day Romania in the early 10th century.

According to the Gesta, Glad came from Vidin in Bulgaria. He occupied his duchy with the assistance of "Cumans" before the arrival of the Magyars. Anonymus wrote that Cumans, Bulgarians, and Vlachs, or Romanians, supported Glad against the invading Magyars, but the latter annihilated their united army in a battle near the Timiș River. The Gesta presents Ahtum, who ruled the Banat at the beginning of the 11th century, according to the longer version of the Life of St Gerard, as Glad's descendant.

The Glad Products Company

The Glad Products Company is an American company specializing in trash bags and plastic food storage containers.

History

The Glad brand originated in the United States in 1963 when the owner and CEO of the company, David Darroch, launched "Glad Wrap", a polyethylene film used as a food wrap. Douglas G. Taylor was transferred that same year from the Union Carbide facility in Pittsburgh, Pa. to spearhead the Glad project. Mr. Taylor headed Sales and Marketing for the Glad products until he was retired from Union Carbide in 1985 after putting together the sale to FirstBrands. At the time of the sale Mr. Taylor was Sr. VP of the Home and Automotive products division as well as the head of STP brands. Douglas G. Taylor died in Hilton Head, South Carolina. August 13, 1996.

The brand originally belonged to Union Carbide, but was divested in 1985 to First Brands Corporation (Eveready and Energizer batteries, Glad, Simoniz, and Prestone) in the United States. In 1998, First Brands was acquired by Clorox. In 2002, Clorox allowed Procter & Gamble to buy a 10% share in Glad Products Company, thus making it a joint venture. Three years later, P&G exercised its option under the agreement to increase its ownership to 20%, the maximum allowed under the joint venture agreement.