Wakefulness

Wakefulness is a daily recurring brain state and state of consciousness in which an individual is conscious and engages in coherent cognitive and behavioral responses to the external world such as communication, ambulation, eating, and sex. Being awake is the opposite of the state of being asleep in which most external inputs to the brain are excluded from neural processing.

Effects upon the brain

The longer the brain has been awake, the greater the spontaneous firing rates of cerebral cortex neurons with this increase being reversed by sleep. Another effect of wakefulness (which may or may not be related to this) is that it lowers the small stores of glycogen held in the astrocytes that can supply energy to the brain's neurons—one of the functions of sleep, it has been proposed, is to create the opportunity for them to be replenished.

Maintenance by the brain

Wakefulness is produced by a complex interaction between multiple neurotransmitter systems arising in the brainstem and ascending through the midbrain, hypothalamus, thalamus and basal forebrain. The posterior hypothalamus plays a key role in the maintenance of the cortical activation that underlies wakefulness. Several systems originating in this part of the brain control the shift from wakefulness into sleep and sleep into wakefulness. Histamine neurons in the tuberomammillary nucleus and nearby adjacent posterior hypothalamus project to the entire brain and are the most wake-selective system so far identified in the brain. Another key system is that provided by the orexins (also known as hypocretins) projecting neurons. These exist in areas adjacent to histamine neurons and like them project widely to most brain areas and associate with arousal. Orexin deficiency has been identified as responsible for narcolepsy.

The Joker Is Wild (album)

The Joker is Wild was the second album released by Alex Harvey after the demise of The Soul Band. The album was released in 1972. Some time after 1972 the album The Joker Is Wild was reissued and repackaged, the album song listings stayed the same, but the album was credited as being made by "The Sensational Alex Harvey Band" even though this band did not exist at the time, and the title was changed to This Is.

Background

The album was recorded at Regent Sound Studio, London in early 1972. These songs are unfinished demos only, recorded for a Spanish singer named Tony Caldeira (who wrote "The Joker Is Wild" and "Silhouette and Shadow"). Alex was teaching Tony vocal delivery and phrasing. Alex received a cheque for the session which subsequently bounced. The producer, Paul Murphy, sold the tapes to Metronome Records in Germany and they issued the LP as The Joker Is Wild in 1972. This Is SAHB is a low budget reissue of "Joker" intended to cash in on SAHB's success (even though Zal, Chris, Ted and Hugh weren't involved with the recordings). The photo of SAHB on the sleeve features keyboard player John Martin on the far left.

Natalie Imbruglia

Natalie Jane Imbruglia (/ɪmˈbruːliə/; Italian: [imˈbruʎʎa]; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress. In the early 1990s, she played Beth Brennan in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. Three years after leaving the programme, she began a singing career with her hit cover of Ednaswap's song "Torn".

Her subsequent album, Left of the Middle (1997), sold 7 million copies worldwide. Further releases, White Lilies Island (2001) and Counting Down the Days (2005), did not sell as well, although the latter became number one in the UK. In 2007 she made Glorious: The Singles 97–07, a hits compilation featuring the single "Glorious", which peaked at 23 in the UK singles chart. Since 1997 Imbruglia has sold 10 million album copies.

She co-starred in the 2003 film Johnny English and was leading actress in the 2009 film Closed for Winter.

On 3 December 2014, Imbruglia announced plans to release a newly recorded album of songs originally performed by male artists. The album, Male, her first since 2009's Come To Life, was released in July 2015, and will be followed by an album of original material.

Austin, Texas

Austin (ⁱ/ˈɒstɪn, ˈɔː-/) is the capital of the US state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas, Austin is the 11th-most populous city in the United States and the fourth-most populous city in Texas. It is the fastest growing of the largest 50 US cities. Austin is also the second largest state capital in the United States, after Phoenix, Arizona. As of July 1, 2014, Austin had a population of 912,791 (U.S. Census Bureau estimate). The city is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 1,943,299 as of July 1, 2014.

In the 1830s, pioneers began to settle the area in central Austin along the Colorado River. After Republic of Texas Vice President Mirabeau B. Lamar visited the area during a buffalo-hunting expedition between 1837 and 1838, he proposed that the republic's capital, then located in Houston, be relocated to the area situated on the north bank of the Colorado River near the present-day Congress Avenue Bridge. In 1839, the site was officially chosen as the republic's new capital (the republic's seventh and final location) and was incorporated under the name Waterloo. Shortly thereafter, the name was changed to Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas" and the republic's first secretary of state.

Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity is a 2007 American independent found footage supernatural horror film written, co-produced, photographed, edited, and directed by Oren Peli. It is the first entry into the Paranormal Activity film series. The film centers on a young couple, Katie and Micah, who are haunted by a supernatural presence in their home. It is presented in the style of "found footage", from cameras set up by the couple in an attempt to document what is haunting them.

Originally developed as an independent feature and given film festival screenings in 2007, the film was acquired by Paramount Pictures and modified, particularly with a new ending. It was given a limited U.S. release on September 25, 2009, and then a nationwide release on October 16, 2009. The film earned nearly $108 million at the U.S. box office and a further $85 million internationally for a worldwide total of $193 million. Paramount/DreamWorks acquired the U.S. rights for $350,000. It is the most profitable film ever made, based on return on investment, although such figures are difficult to verify independently as this is likely to exclude marketing costs.