Problem: Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (; Russian: Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, pronounced [vla'djimjIr na'bok@f] ( listen), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin; 22 April [O.S. 10 April] 1899 - 2 July 1977) was a Russian-American novelist, translator and entomologist.

Nabokov was a classical liberal, in the tradition of his father, a liberal statesman who served in the Provisional Government following the February Revolution of 1917. Nabokov was a self-proclaimed "White Russian", and was, from its inception, a strong opponent of the Soviet government that came to power following the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917. In a poem he wrote as a teenager in 1917, he described Lenin's Bolsheviks as "grey rag-tag people".  Throughout his life, Nabokov would remain committed to the classical liberal political philosophy of his father, and equally opposed Tsarist autocracy, communism and fascism.  Nabokov's father Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov was the most outspoken defender of Jewish rights in the Russian Empire, continuing in a family tradition that had been led by his own father, Dmitry Nabokov, who as Justice Minister under Tsar Alexander II had successfully blocked anti-semitic measures from being passed by the Interior Minister. That family strain would continue in Vladimir Nabokov, who fiercely denounced anti-semitism in his writings, and in the 1930s Nabokov was able to escape Hitler's Germany only with the help of Russian Jewish emigres who still had grateful memories of his family's defense of Jews in Tsarist times.  When asked, in 1969, whether he would like to revisit the land he had fled in 1918, now the Soviet Union, he replied: "There's nothing to look at. New tenement houses and old churches do not interest me. The hotels there are terrible. I detest the Soviet theater. Any palace in Italy is superior to the repainted abodes of the Tsars. The village huts in the forbidden hinterland are as dismally poor as ever, and the wretched peasant flogs his wretched cart horse with the same wretched zest. As to my special northern landscape and the haunts of my childhood - well, I would not wish to contaminate their images preserved in my mind."

Were his views controversial?

Answer with quotes: Nabokov was a self-proclaimed "White Russian", and was, from its inception, a strong opponent of the Soviet government that came to power following the Bolshevik Revolution


Problem: Titas (Portuguese pronunciation: [tSi'tas]) are a rock band from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Though they basically play pop/alternative rock, their music has touched a number of other styles throughout their 30-year career, such as new wave, punk rock, grunge, MPB and electronic music. They are one of the most successful rock bands in Brazil, having sold more than 6,3 million albums as of 2005 and having been covered by several well-known Brazilian artists and a couple of international singers. They were awarded a Latin Grammy in 2009 and have won the Imprensa Trophy for Best Band a record four times.

In November 1985, Tony Bellotto and Arnaldo Antunes were arrested for heroin traffic and transportation. It This considered by the band as the climax of their first crisis, started with the first two albums low sales. Also, the episode made so much of an impact in the band, the next album, Cabeca Dinossauro, released in June 1986, contained a lot of tracks criticizing the public institutions ("Estado Violencia" and "Policia"), as well as other "pillars" of the Brazilian society and indeed society in general ("Igreja" and "Familia"). The heavy and punk-influenced rhythms and the forceful lyrics, characteristic of the band in this phase, are fully represented in this album which is considered by the critics one of the best works of the group and one of the landmarks of the Brazilian rock.  Jesus Nao Tem Dentes No Pais Dos Banguelas, released at the end of 1987, continued in the same vein as the previous album in tracks like "Nome aos Bois", "Lugar Nenhum" and "Desordem", however adding samplers in tracks like "Coracoes e Mentes", "Todo Mundo quer Amor", "Comida" and "Diversao". After some international performances, the band recorded some of their hits in live Montreux Festival and released Go Back in 1988. The biggest hit to come out of Go Back was a live version of the song "Marvin" which is a re-invented version of "Patches" by Clarence Carter made famous by Elvis.  The producer Liminha (a former adjunct member of Os Mutantes) was always an important associate of the band since Cabeca Dinossauro, and this association arrived to its climax in O Blesq Blom, one of the most popular productions of the band by that time. Some of the prominence tracks: "Miseria", "Flores", "O Pulso" and "32 Dentes". One of the prominent features of this work was the special guest appearance of a couple of improvisors, called Mauro and Quiteria, discovered by the band in a beach in Recife.

What is the Into the spotlight ?

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