Rocha

Rocha may refer to:

See also

Rocha, Rio de Janeiro

Rocha is a neighborhood in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Rocha (surname)

Rocha is a Portuguese family name. It literally means “rock” or “boulder” in Portuguese; for instance, “rochas sedimentares, metamórficas e magmáticas” means “sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks”. It is also a topographical surname that is found in Portugal as “da Rocha” or simply Rocha, literally, "one who is from/of the rock".

The roots of the name are in the Middle East, believed to originate from Sephardi Jews. The family migrated to Europe when the Roman empire took over Israel and destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. The first documented usage of the surname in Portugal was from a Monsignor de la Roche, who arrived in Portugal on his way to the Holy Land from possibly Flanders during the reign of Afonso III of Portugal, and assisted in the taking of Silves from the Moors. Afonso III of Portugal granted this gentleman lands in Torres Novas and other locales for his services. His descendants used the Portuguese version of the word, ‘da Rocha’.

Another wave of the Roche family, after the Jewish diaspora, moved to the Diocese of Fermoy, Ireland. After, they migrated to Portugal where they were viscounts during the reign of Joao I. This family helped with the Portuguese war against Castile and this gentleman had three sons, Gomes, Louis, and Raymond. It is from D. Gomes da Rocha where the Portuguese version of the name continued onto later generations.

Gravity

Gravity or gravitation is a natural phenomenon by which all things with energy are brought toward (or gravitate toward) one another, including stars, planets, galaxies and even light and sub-atomic particles. Gravity is responsible for many of the structures in the Universe, by creating spheres of hydrogen — where hydrogen fuses under pressure to form stars — and grouping them into galaxies. On Earth, gravity gives weight to physical objects and causes the tides. Gravity has an infinite range, although its effects become increasingly weaker on farther objects.

Gravity is most accurately described by the general theory of relativity (proposed by Albert Einstein in 1915) which describes gravity not as a force but as a consequence of the curvature of spacetime caused by the uneven distribution of mass/energy; and resulting in gravitational time dilation, where time lapses more slowly in lower (stronger) gravitational potential. However, for most applications, gravity is well approximated by Newton's law of universal gravitation, which postulates that gravity is a force where two bodies of mass are directly drawn (or 'attracted') to each other according to a mathematical relationship, where the attractive force is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. This is considered to occur over an infinite range, such that all bodies (with mass) in the universe are drawn to each other no matter how far they are apart.

Gravity (Our Lady Peace album)

Gravity is the fifth studio album by the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. It was released on June 18, 2002 by Columbia Records in North America. The album became a worldwide success, charting highly both in Canada and the United States with the hit singles "Somewhere Out There" and "Innocent".

The album title, Gravity, was inspired by the chorus lyrics "Falling back to me, defying gravity" from the track "Somewhere Out There". At the time of the album's release, OLP drummer Jeremy Taggart said that Gravity was "by far [their] best album".

Gravity was the first album to feature new guitarist, Steve Mazur, who replaced Mike Turner in 2002 after the latter's departure, which the band was feeling limited by Mike Turner guitar abilities in the studio. The band also wanted a guitarist who can really stand up and have a strong voice. Despite of Mike Turner departure, Turner appears on half the tracks on the album, however, having recorded parts for several songs on the album prior to his departure. This was also their last album with musician Jamie Edwards, who had performed on two prior albums and was briefly an official member, but left the band soon after the album's completion.

Gravity (James Brown album)

Gravity is the 56th studio album by American musician James Brown. The album was released on September 15, 1986, by Scotti Bros. Records. It was largely written and produced by Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight, the authors of the album's previously released hit single "Living in America", which had reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was prominently featured in the film Rocky IV. It was Brown's first album for the Scotti Brothers record label.

The album's title track became a minor hit on both the pop and R&B charts, while the tango-based slow jam "How Do You Stop" cracked the R&B top ten. The album track "Turn Me Loose, I'm Dr Feelgood" was used as the theme song for the Australian TV sketch comedy series The Late Show (1992–93) and is often played by Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies when one of their batters hits a home run at Citizens Bank Park.

Reception

Gravity earned a lukewarm reception from critics. Robert Christgau went so far as to describe it as "[n]ot a James Brown album--a James Brown-influenced Dan Hartman record, with James Brown on vocals", and urged readers to seek out recent reissues of Brown's earlier work instead. Ron Wynn of Allmusic.com described the album as "moderately interesting" but that, ultimately, Brown was trying to "catch up" with contemporary trends.