Levitation

Levitation (from Latin levitas "lightness") is the process by which an object is held aloft, without mechanical support, in a stable position.

Levitation is accomplished by providing an upward force that counteracts the pull of gravity (in relation to gravity on earth), plus a smaller stabilizing force that pushes the object toward a home position whenever it is a small distance away from that home position. The force can be a fundamental force such as magnetic or electrostatic, or it can be a reactive force such as optical, buoyant, aerodynamic, or hydrodynamic.

Levitation excludes floating at the surface of a liquid because the liquid provides direct mechanical support. Levitation excludes hovering flight by insects, hummingbirds, helicopters, rockets, and balloons because the object provides its own counter-gravity force.

Physics

Levitation (on Earth or any planetoid) requires an upward force that cancels out the weight of the object, so that the object does not fall (accelerate downward) or rise (accelerate upward). For positional stability, any small displacement of the levitating object must result in a small change in force in the opposite direction. The small changes in force can be accomplished by gradient field(s) or by active regulation. If the object is disturbed, it might oscillate around its final position, but its motion eventually decreases to zero due to damping effects. (In a turbulent flow, the object might oscillate indefinitely.)

Levitation (festival)

Levitation (formerly Austin Psych Fest) is an annual 3-day music festival developed and produced by The Reverberation Appreciation Society. Since its first year in 2008 it has been held at Carson Creek in Austin, Texas. Inspired by the creative explosion of the 1960s, as well as by festivals such as ATP and Primavera Sound, they set out to create their vision of a music festival.

Over the years, this independent festival has grown to an internationally acclaimed, full weekend event that attracts attendees from all over the world. In 2015 Austin Psych Fest was renamed LEVITATION in honor of Austin’s legendary psychedelic rock godfathers The 13th Floor Elevators.

The Reverberation Appreciation Society is a creative collective composed of Rob Fitzpatrick, Oswald James, and Christian Bland and Alex Maas of The Black Angels. In addition to the festival in Austin, the group has branched out into other cities beginning in 2013 with Levitation France and in 2015 with Levitation Vancouver and Levitation Chicago. The group also runs a record label and presents events at Austin’s SXSW, The Netherlands’ Le Guess Who, NYC’s CMJ and NRMAL in Mexico City.

Levitation (band)

Levitation were an English psychedelic rock band, formed in 1990 in London. The band consisted of frontman Terry Bickers (formerly guitarist with The House of Love), drummer David Francolini, guitarist Christian Hayes, bassist Laurence O'Keefe and keyboardist Robert White.

Bickers announced his departure from the band onstage at Tufnell Park Dome in north London on 14 May 1993. The release of the band's already completed second album Meanwhile Gardens was shelved. The band enlisted former Some Have Fins frontman Steve Ludwin to replace Bickers, which saw a remixed version of the album with new vocals from Ludwin released in Australia the following year. The band split in October 1994, leaving their second album remaining unreleased. Hayes, Francolini and O'Keefe regrouped in 1996 to form Dark Star. They released Twenty Twenty Sound in 1999 before disbanding in 2001.

History

Formation & Early EPs

Following his departure from The House Of Love in 1990, Terry Bickers began forming a new band with drummer David Francolini. The pair met during Bickers' last tour with his previous band in December 1989, on which Francolini was playing with support band Something Pretty Beautiful whom he joined just days before going out on tour. They first enlisted Christian Hayes, who had played with Ring and Panixphere, played bass in The Dave Howard Singers and was currently playing guitar in Cardiacs and working as a courier. Bickers knew Hayes through musical friends in South London, and when Bickers and Francolini spotted Hayes on his courier bike by chance in Covent Garden, London they arranged to meet up in the studio. Hayes' former Ring bandmate, keyboardist Robert White (also formerly of Zag and the Coloured Beads) soon joined along with bassist Joe Allen and violinist Johnny T, a member of The Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra.

Freeze!

Freeze! is a puzzle video game developed by Frozen Gun Games and released in November 2012 for iOS and Android. The game reached the top of the Apple App Store in 61 countries. It received several awards and has downloaded over ten million copies. The idea and gameplay is developed by Andreas von Lepel, who designed various games for the Commodore 64, Amiga and Game Boy in the early 80s. The artwork with its dark, atmospheric images was designed by Jonas Schenk.

Gameplay

As a small round hero in eye shape it is necessary to solve different puzzles. The player does not control the character itself, but the prison cells. With the "Freeze" Button the gravity can be deactivated and the eye remains in its place. The cells can be turned to the right position. If you activate the gravity again, the eye drops in the adjusted direction. Deadly stings and various enemies complicate the levels.

Reception

The game won Casual Games Association´s Indie Prize Europe 2013 award. It is also one of the ten best games in 2013 of the Android Quality Index. The game received "generally favorable" reviews, according to video game review score aggregator Metacritic.

Freeze (T-Pain song)

"Freeze" is the third and final single from R&B singer T-Pain from his third album, Thr33 Ringz. The song features singer Chris Brown. The song was released on iTunes on October 10 and was added to T-Pain's MySpace on October 17. A version that features Omarion was originally on the album, but was changed to Chris Brown.

Critical response

The Guardian editor Alex Macpherson praised the production: "Thr33 Ringz' humour is still superbly crass and mostly enjoyable, especially when allied with the skittering beats and post-funk bounce of Freeze." Jesal 'Jay Soul' Padania of RapReviews.com called this song nice enough. Eric Henderson wrote a positive review: "Freeze" might be another freeze-dried Chris Brown upper, but it boasts the cleanest production this side of Ne-Yo."

Music video

The shoot for the music video was released on YouTube on September 30 by Mike & Rocco (reality). The video was set to premiere on January 5, 2009 but leaked on December 31, 2008 and was officially released on January 1, 2009 via MTV Jams.

Freeze (album)

Freeze is the tenth studio album by Dutch rock and roll and blues group Herman Brood & His Wild Romance. The album reached #63 on the Dutch album chart on 3 November 1990, and stayed on the chart for 5 weeks. Brood, who had just won the 1989 Popprijs, one of the highest Dutch awards for popular music, recorded Freeze with the help of Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band and Tejano accordion player Flaco Jiménez. Lack of success for this album leads Brood to stop touring.

Track listing

Personnel

References