The High (comics)

The High (John Cumberland) is a fictional character, a superhero in the Wildstorm Universe. He first appears in Stormwatch #46 and was created by Warren Ellis and Tom Raney.

Publication history

The High plays a major part in the Stormwatch story arc "Change or Die." The character was later revived for the series Number of the Beast and would become a key part of the line-wide storyline "World's End".

Fictional character biography

The High came from an alternate reality. He fought as a superhero alongside Jenny Sparks in the 1930s, but became frustrated and left the crime-fighting occupation long before she did. After years detached from society (including a decade spent seated atop a throne of stone in the Rocky Mountains, contemplating his plan) he was left with a somewhat naive apprehension of others, their motives and ability shrinking in the face of his noble plan. He was overly trusting of his cohorts, quick to mistrust anyone who stepped in their way, and eager to force the world to change and be done with it - and he ultimately learned, as Jenny Sparks said, that people only want change on their own terms. His emblem was five arrows in a circle, much like the symbol for recycling - he wore this on his costume's belt and on a t-shirt he wore when out of costume.

High (David Hallyday song)

"High" is a 1988 song recorded by French artist David Hallyday. It was the second of the four singles from his debut studio album True Cool. Released in November 1988, the song was a hit in France, becoming David Hallyday's first number-one single.

Song information

The song was composed by Lisa Catherine Cohen and the music composed by the singer himself. As for the rest of the album, lyrics are in English-language. The music video was shot in a church, Hallyday playing the organ, while a chorus composed of women chanted 'high' during the refrains. With this vigorous song, Hallyday presents "a musical style at the joint of Californian rock and pop".

In France, the single debuted on the singles chart at #45 on November 19, 1988, climbed quickly and entered the top ten in its fourth week. It topped the chart for five consecutive weeks, then almost didn't stop to drop on the chart and totaled 15 weeks in the top ten and 23 weeks in the top 50. Although it was not certified by the SNEP, the French certifier, its sales made the song the 440th best-selling single of all time in France. The song was the most successful from the album True Cool and the second one in Hallyday's career, behind "Tu ne m'as pas laissé le temps".

High (The Blue Nile album)

High is the fourth studio album by Scottish band The Blue Nile, released on 30 August 2004 on Sanctuary Records. A single, "I Would Never", was released one week prior to the album: a second song, "She Saw the World", was made available as a promotional single, but never released officially.

"Soul Boy" had already been recorded by former Spice Girl Melanie C for her album Reason the previous year.

Critical reception

The album received generally favourable reviews, with many critics considering High to be a stronger album than their previous effort Peace at Last. AllMusic said "the Blue Nile have returned with a more balanced album [than Peace at Last] and Buchanan is broken-hearted again, thank the stars. He's been struggling with fatigue and illness and as selfish and inconsiderate as it sounds, it's brought the spark back to his writing... given the time to sink in, the album fits well in their canon."The Guardian believed that with High "the emotional commitment of Peace at Last is combined with the observational detachment of the earlier work... In pop, most people do their best work within five or six years. How extraordinary, then, that after more than two decades of activity, the Blue Nile remain on course, their range expanded, their focus more refined, unshaken in their determination to proceed at their own measured pace."

High (Knut Anders Sørum song)

"High" was the Norwegian entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, performed in English by Knut Anders Sørum.

The song is a dramatic ballad, with Sørum expressing his desire to bring an unnamed person "high". The lyrics suggest that this person has been beset by problems, and that Sørum believes he can go some way to curing them.

As Norway had finished the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 in the top 10, the song was pre-qualified for the final. Here, it was performed third, following Austria's Tie Break with "Du bist" and preceding France's Jonatan Cerrada with "À chaque pas". At the close of voting, it had received 3 points, placing 24th (last) in a field of 24, thus requiring Norway to qualify through the semi-final at the next Contest.

The low score, and long wait before Norway scored any points at all, led Australian commentator Des Mangan to jokingly offer money for anyone prepared to vote for the country. Initially, this was "a thousand bucks", later climbing to "ten thousand bucks and my house". Mangan explained during this commentary that he did not want Norway to further extend its unwanted record of failing to record a point on the most occasions.

Catalysis

Catalysis (/kəˈtælᵻsᵻs/) is the increase in the rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of an additional substance called a catalyst (/ˈkætəlᵻst/). With a catalyst, reactions occur faster and require less activation energy. Because catalysts are not consumed in the catalyzed reaction, they can continue to catalyze the reaction of further quantities of reactant. Often only tiny amounts are required.

Technical perspective

In the presence of a catalyst, less free energy is required to reach the transition state, but the total free energy from reactants to products does not change. A catalyst may participate in multiple chemical transformations. The effect of a catalyst may vary due to the presence of other substances known as inhibitors or poisons (which reduce the catalytic activity) or promoters (which increase the activity). The opposite of a catalyst, a substance that reduces the rate of a reaction, is an inhibitor.

Catalyzed reactions have a lower activation energy (rate-limiting free energy of activation) than the corresponding uncatalyzed reaction, resulting in a higher reaction rate at the same temperature and for the same reactant concentrations. However, the detailed mechanics of catalysis is complex. Catalysts may affect the reaction environment favorably, or bind to the reagents to polarize bonds, e.g. acid catalysts for reactions of carbonyl compounds, or form specific intermediates that are not produced naturally, such as osmate esters in osmium tetroxide-catalyzed dihydroxylation of alkenes, or cause dissociation of reagents to reactive forms, such as chemisorbed hydrogen in catalytic hydrogenation.

Catalyst (TV program)

Catalyst is the ABC's primary science journalism television series and the only science show on primetime television in Australia. Launched in 2001, it replaced Quantum, which had ceased the previous year. Catalyst is regularly broadcast on ABC 1 at 8:00 pm on Tuesdays and at 11:30 am Saturdays. Also repeated on ABC News 24 on Saturdays at 4:30 pm.

Catalyst celebrated its tenth year of production in 2010.

Description

The show broadcasts stories on scientific themes, and in particular significant recent developments and discoveries. It focuses primarily on stories relevant to Australia, but the series covers international developments as well. It attempts to convey information in a way that is not only accurate but also interesting and informative to the general population, often discussing the ethical, political, and other implications of scientific discoveries and research as well as the discoveries themselves.

The show's website describes it as follows:

Each week Catalyst brings you stories from Australia and around the world.

Catalyst (Prototype album)

Catalyst is the third studio album by heavy metal band Prototype. The album was released on September 11, 2012 by Nightmare Records, following up from their 2006 album Continuum.

Track listing

Personnel