John Mayer is not only a song-writer, but an overwhelmingly talented guitarist and singer. Mayer’s new album “Battle Studies’’ showcases his powerful voice and lyrics.

“Assassin” brings out Mayer’s jazz guitar playing, lightly glistening in the background but still very catchy. Mayer’s third track features rising pop/country star Taylor Swift.

Swift’s vocal talent, layered under Mayer’s melody, was very deep, making her range a major stand out. Mayer is not only the best guitarist in pop-rock music, but uses his weapon efficiently, only shredding when necessary.

Mayer’s most played single “Who Says?” captures the story of Mayer’s younger days of partying and music writing, and not to mention, avid pot-smoking.

The album flows very nicely and has every aspect of pop-music nailed to the door. Mayer paid tribute to an early influence in Eric Clapton by adding a funky-updated blues version of the song “Crossroads.” Mayer’s vocal work also stands out on this track which was layered with multiple harmonies.

Continuum may be a tough album to top, but Mayer may have out done himself on this one. If this album doesn’t leave you hooked on one song, you need to take a step back and think about what a true musician is.

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BY TANNER BUCKLEY

Paranormal Activity stood up to its talk, being one of the most frightening movies of the year. The filming style and setting of this movie put you in the mind-set of “Wow, this could be real.”

After a young couple moves into a new home (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat), they notice strange happenings which commonly occurred in the middle of the night. The couple documents everything that happens with a video camera, hoping they can find out what has truly taken over their home. The more open your mind was to this movie, the more you could get into it.

Paranormal Activity had scared girls latching onto their boyfriends arms, begging for certain scenes to be over. Although the movie was overly-disturbing at times, Sloat was a bit of comic relief, giving Katie poor advice and typically having something smart to say when he opened his mouth.

This “based on true events” movie nailed every aspect of what it could possibly be like to have a demon take over your body. By the end of the movie, all of the obnoxious talkers in the audience filled the air with silence, minus a scream or two.

If you have the time and money to go see this film, it’s highly recommended. With a budget of only $15,000, the writers of Paranormal couldn’t have done a better job of making it hard to sleep after seeing the film.

 

Movie should be placed in comedy section

BY PAYTON QUINN

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Juror 1

Actor: Freshman Jacob Wolfe

Character Description: Juror number one is a guy who tries to be tough and handle the room but can’t.

Years in drama: One

Juror 2

Actor: Senior Drew Davis

Description: Juror number two is shy and doesn’t have the guts to stand up to people very often.

 Years in drama: Two

Juror 3

Actor: Junior Aaron Homard

Description: Juror number three is very loud and demanding and wants to see the boy guilty.

Years in drama: Three

Jurror 4

Actor: Sophomore Nick Clark

Description: Juror number four is intelligent and stuck up.

Years in drama: Two

Juror 5

Actor: Senior Sarah Bradley

Description: Juror number five is from the wrong side of the tracks. 

Years in drama: Three

Juror 6

Actor: Senior Kyle Utke

 Description: Juror number six is honest but kind of slow and looks out for people.

 Years in drama: Four

Juror 7

Actor: Senior John Preston

 Description: Juror number seven is a jerk, flashy, rude and a smart aleck.

 Years in drama: Three

Juror 8

Actor: Senior Edward Rodriguez

Description: Juror number eight is very honest and good willed. He wants to examine every piece of evidence.

Years in drama: Four

Juror 9

Actor: Senior Alyssa Gourd

 Description: Juror number nine is an old woman who wants to see justice, but isn’t very forceful.

Years in drama: Three

Juror 10

Actor: Senior Cassie Tant

 Description: Juror number ten is a bigot, very forceful and demanding. She likes to be heard.

 Years in drama: Three

Juror 11

Actor: Senior Anna Swan

 Description: Juror number eleven is a European lady who wants justice and wants everyone to get a fair chance.

Years in drama: Two

Juror 12

Actor: Sophomore Jay Jacobson

 Description: Juror number twelve is nice, not strong opinionated and works at an ad agency. He is also an easy going guy.

 Years in drama: Two

——————

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Jon Young was the artist. He received a record label in 2007 but was still not very well-known. The only people that knew who he was were his local fans and his MySpace friends. According to www.jonyoungmusic.com he was getting 15,000 song hits a day.

Later on in his music career he was introduced to J. Cash and they soon became a team. Young and Cash recorded two labels together including a hit single “I’m So Hood,” featuring Lil Boosie and DJ Khaled.

My favorite album just features Young from 2007. The name of the album is “City I Luv.”

My first favorite song on the album is “Don’t Wanna Fight.” The song explains an experience he went through with his girlfriend about trust issues and how he wishes she knew to trust him more. I not only like this song for the lyrics but also the meaning that trust is a big part of a relationship no matter what type of relationship it may be. It also explains how being insecure about things can ruin relationships or make them tougher to work through.

Whenever I listen to that song it makes me pay more attention to who I trust, who I don’t trust and the reasoning behind that.

Another favorite song on the album is “Back in Time.” This song is about how he once had something he misses but life changed and he’s moved on. It also says how he wishes he had something still but time changed that.

I like this song because it makes me realize you can miss the past and what you had or the people in your life, but in reality you should be thankful for what you already have and the people that stuck around to be in your life. It also makes me think how you should appreciate what you have and not always want what you once had or don’t have.

Every song he records has a meaning. Young has a quote he puts in the album bio, “Write what means to you, because what you write will have an impact on someone.” According to www.jonyoungmusic.com he believes writing things that have meaning will get you farther and make you want to keep writing. He also says you shouldn’t not write something because someone frowns down upon it.

I know Young isn’t new but he’s also not very known. Every time I make a friend listen to him they come to school the next day with his songs on their iPods and one of his songs as their MySpace song.

I encourage everyone to listen to Young at some point and really pay attention to the lyrics. Who knows maybe a song he has will mean something to you or explain a situation you’re going through.

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Fighting for justice seemed to be the dominating theme of this cinematic ode to the most consequential political scandal in American history.

Based on the events of 1977, Frost/Nixon paints a vivid picture of the controversial interviews between British talk show host David Frost and former United States president Richard Nixon. The movie gives a brief synopsis of the incident which led to Nixon’s resignation, three years before the interviews took place, after being tied to the Watergate scandal of 1972.

Watergate was a hotel complex where the Democratic National Committee headquarters were broken into by men who were being paid to investigate Democratic political strategies for the 1972 presidential election. Evidence eluded that the President Nixon had been involved in a cover-up of the break-in and may have been the initial conspirator behind it.

Following his resignation, which was submitted to escape a possible impeachment, Nixon was pardoned of all criminal charges but left the American population with not a word of self-conviction.

When his time in the spotlight began to fade, Frost, who sought to work on a project that would legitimize him in the entertainment business, arranged camera time with a disgraced Nixon (a convincing Frank Langella) in order to revive his career. Frost (Michael Sheen) was an animated, lively TV personality who naively threw himself into a whirlwind of political drama and harsh animosity between a people and their fallen leader. I truly felt Frost’s discomfort as he battled a wave of intimidation, brought on by the increasing intensity of each taping session, which visibly eroded his self-confidence.

The process of forming an intelligent team of researchers, driven by their passionate sense of injustice, and preparing for the highly anticipated interviews played a key role in the big screen version of the play, written by Peter Morgan. The interaction between Frost’s researchers James Reston (Sam Rockwell), John Birt (Matthew MacFadyen) and Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt) serves as a comedic build up to the ominous interview where their interrogative questions go up against Nixon’s stonewall answers.

A seemingly defeated Frost suffers through a rigorous battle of wits with a man whose entire career had thrived on his ability to argue controversial issues. Throughout the entire film there seemed to be an underlying plot which showed both main characters as outcasts striving to regain their fame.

The movie climaxes when, during the final interview, Frost targets Nixon’s personal definition of right and wrong. I watched as Frost morphed from a frivolous TV host into a hard core journalist who mercilessly interrogated his opponent until victory was achieved. With his last shred of self justification Nixon confirms his moral corruption when he states, “I’m saying when the president does it it’s not illegal!”

I realize Frost/Nixon is a presentation of a potentially boring storyline but I genuinely feel that, if nothing else, the movie was able to educate viewers about a defining moment in American history in a thrilling and entertaining way. This movie provides its audience with a front row seat to witness the recreation of an event which no one, during the time, ever dreamed would take place; a foreign television host giving Richard Nixon “the trial he never had.”

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“Hmong girls fit in better here,” Sue tells Walt. “The girls go to college and the boys go to jail.”

They are next-door neighbors in a once-affluent Detroit neighborhood. Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) is a cantankerous, racist old Korean War veteran who deals with neighborhood problems like gang violence with a long rifle and more than a few choice racial slurs.

Walt’s most prized possession is his green 1972 Gran Torino, which he built himself when he worked on the Ford assembly line. After he catches Sue’s nerdy younger brother, Thao (Bee Vang) stealing the car, Sue (Ahney Her) quickly interferes, forcing Thao to work for Walt to repair the dishonor done to the family’s name.

Thao is a shy kid, pressured into stealing the car as initiation into a Hmong gang.

“He can’t stick up for himself, so the gang would be there to back him up,” Sonny Vue, who plays the gangleader, said. “Becoming a gang was really so they could protect each other from other gangs in the neighborhood.

Eastwood, at 78 years old, is perfect for the juicy role of Walt and plays “grouchy old man turned surrogate father” to a T. But almost more interesting than Eastwood’s dual acting and directing is the casting of Hmong actors in Hmong roles.

Hmong immigrants, who originate from Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, began arriving in the United States in 1975 after allying with the U.S. in the Secret War.

But very few movies exist that feature Hmong characters, actors or plotlines, which is why Hmong actor Wa Yang, from Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima told Asian Week he hopes Gran Torino might change that.

“Maybe later,” Yang said, “a movie can be made that tells the story of how we ended up in the U.S.”

Vang and Her, who are both actually Hmong, are incredible, especially as both make their screen debut in this film. Vang’s Thao is believably naïve, and his mentor/mentee relationship with Walt is full of enough light moments that it doesn’t even come close to corny.

As Thao, Sue and their family slowly befriend the prejudiced Walt, his own family, by contrast, is portrayed as selfish and materialistic.

While I appreciated that this hinted that Walt loves his neighbors more than his family, I thought the family was too exaggerated, especially his granddaughter (Dreama Walker). Her character relied too heavily on overused devices to stereotype teenagers, like the bare midriff and an obsession with texting. In one contrived scene, she asks Walt who he is going to give the Gran Torino to when he “like, dies.”

This didn’t take away much from my overall enjoyment of the film, though. The story is moving but not clichéd, the leading cast is terrific and the twist ending sends a beautiful message about peace and acceptance.

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The drama department is at it again, this time with their winter performance of Peter Pan. Peter Pan is played by freshman Jay Jacobson who has performed in plays since he was in third grade.

“I am Peter Pan, and I never want to grow up,” Jacobson said.

Jacobson said that he plays an obnoxious young boy, who at times acts like a father figure for the other characters.

“It is interesting to see him being an adult in some scenes and an obnoxious kid in some scenes,” Jacobson said.

Senior Shaun Knapp plays Captain James Hook, who is the enemy of Peter Pan. Knapp says his character is different from other Captain Hooks because he is more of an evil character.

“He seems to be a more humanized and misunderstood person,” Knapp said. “He has his fears so he is mean to everyone else.”

Senior Valerie Vivian plays Captain Hook’s right-hand man, Smee.

“I am like his flunky,” Vivian said. “Pretty much, my part is searching for the lost boys and trying to make Wendy be our Mom.”

Usually, Smee is played by a fat, bald guy who is ordered around by Captain Hook.

“This play is different because we get to use our own creative twists,” Vivian said. “My character is feisty and wants to be in control.”

Each one of these characters said that with a close cast, their performance on-stage improves and allows them to have more fun at rehearsals.

Vivian said that they have a quote book that they read from at rehearsals which triggered one of her favorite memories from rehearsal.

“I was supposed to say Johnny Corkscrew, but instead I said Johnny Cockscrew and it was really funny,” Vivian said.

Jacobson’s favorite memory happened to be three weeks ago when he was with Knapp.

“Yesterday I was messing with Shaun and he didn’t know who I was because I was hiding and scaring him,” Jacobson said. “That was fun.”

Knapp had a different memory in mind.

“One of my favorite rehearsals was where just the pirates were up on stage and created a song and had fun creating a melody and practicing walking in,” Knapp said. “It was really fun because we got to be all weird and do what we thought the parts would do.”

Vivian said that believes that the connection the actors have offstage creates a better performance when they’re onstage.

“I think it is a large part of why we’re so good,” Vivian said. “Because it’s not just an on-stage connection.”

Vivian also said that for this play they tried a different technique in preparing for the play, which will make this play better than past plays.

“In the beginning, we devoted one hour of practice to memorizing the play,” Vivian said. “This helps because we have more time to develop our characters.”

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Where not a year ago Silverstrini’s Pizza was, now stands Tedesco’s Steakhouse, a new restaurant down Douglas Avenue. From my first real glance to the end of the meal, I was both interested and excited about some things, though not completely impressed.

I came at lunch, walking in to the small building, and there was enough seating for a small party- in fact there was one present. At first glance, we nearly mistook it for a self-seating place, as it took five to ten minutes for a hostess to notice us inside and take us to our table.

The lunch menu seemed extensive, with a variety of salads, grilled meats and sandwiches, though none of them come without taking a nip at a high school student’s wallet. By the end of the meal we managed to spend nearly thirty dollars on the meal for three.

Our waitress managed to redeem our long wait to be seated however, constantly keeping one eye on our drinks whenever they seemed to be going low and checking up occasionally to make sure everything was okay.

The interior had a certain charm to it, seemingly modeled after an Italian bistro. Tuscan red colored the walls where paintings and photos of Italian landscape did not. The wilting flowers in European wine bottles seemed to contradict themselves, by giving a fancy and at the same time fun feel to the place. For the most part, that was the restaurant’s feel, from the low hanging lights to the appealing decor, the place seemed like one you could be comfortable in no matter what you where wearing, though I’d recommend collared shirts, just to stay on the safe side.

I had plenty of time to get a feel for the inside, as it took between 20 and 30 minutes for our food to arrive! The french dip proved satisfying, though not the best beef in quality or taste I’ve had at steakhouses, the au jus was rather thin as well. Tedesco’s barbeque burger turned out to contain the best meat among the dishes we’d ordered, although it did not come with onions as the menu specified. The salad that was ordered hardly included half the ingredients that were mentioned. We managed to have it sent back and get the ingredients added, but it was beginning to become clear to me the staff had been neglecting some of their duties.

On a meal for three we managed spend just under 29 dollars (and that was even taking a dollar off for the salad mistake), more then I’d want to pay for the good, but not great lunch I’d had.

If you’re a high school student looking to eat at Tedesco’s, I’d say you’re best off planning it for a dinner with your girlfriend, your more likely to get a better deal and feel more open to spending a the extra cash.

All things considered, Tedesco’s offered a variety of good food and decent service, but a price we can’t all agree on. I give Tedesco’s three and a half out of five.

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“(Gamers’ Club is where you can) make friendships with people who like (the) same thing you do.” Andy said.

“I joined because I like playing videogames.” Andy said. Andy has been in the Gamers’ Club since last year, and has been going to it ever since. Andy mentioned that he has been to about “20, maybe 30″ meetings overall.”

While there are board games and card games, Andy prefers to play videogames.

Andy said that he has been into videogames for around six years. Although he is in the Gamers’ Club, Andy is also in Debate and Mock Trial. Andy feels that the Gamers’ Club “helps you make better friendships (at school).

Hoover math teacher and Gamers’ Club advisor Andrew Jordan has known Andy since the beginning of last year.

“Gamers’ was started just last year, and he’s (Andy) been a part of it since the beginning.” Jordan said. Jordan also mentioned that “although Andy is an essential part of the Gamers’ Club experience, due to scheduling difficulties, we usually only see him about 50 percent of the time.”

Jordan doesn’t only know Andy from the Gamers’ Club. Andy was in Jordan’s Integrated II class last year.

Junior Tony Woods, brother of Andy Woods, thinks that Andy contributes to the Gamers’ Club an “excited, outgoing personality.” Tony agrees that Andy has been to most meetings, but has also missed some.

“Many people at Gamers’ know him, and we all enjoy his company.” Jordan said.

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Twilight, a vampire-based fantasy/romance/horror series by Stephenie Meyer, has become a huge phenomenon and frenzy among teenage girls.

Freshman Heaven Slye is one of the numerous teenagers who have taken an obsession to the popular series.

“I got hooked at the bookstore while I was actually looking for Cirque Du Freak books, but I picked it up out of curiosity and thought, “Oh my god, I’m in love with this book!” Slye said.

The series is about a teenage girl named Isabella Swan who moves into a new town, and finds her life turned upside-down when she falls in love with a vampire named Edward Cullen . Readers said what makes the series distinguishable is its portrayal and involvement of vampires. Vampires, werewolves and other creatures are rampant throughout the series.

Freshman Sagila Cadic said she approves of the portrayal of vampires in the series, which defies typical vampire stereotypes.

“The vampires in Twilight break stereotypes, but also twist some around. The vampires in these books are not shown as the typical bad and scary vampire that is commonly stereotyped,” Cadic said.

An upcoming film adaptation of the first Twilight book is set to be released on Nov. 21. It was originally set for release on Dec. 24, but it moved up to Nov. 21Robert Pattinson, who played the role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is set to appear as Edward Cullen.

The upcoming movie is garnering both anticipation and mixed reactions. It is anticipated for the midnight showing to bring out a huge crowd of Twilight crazed fans.

“I’m excited! I will go the midnight showing,” Slye said.

On the other hand, freshman Alex Woods is having mixed thoughts regarding the film.

“I’m not too thrilled about the actors who were chosen for the film. They don’t look like how I pictured them in my head when I read the books, “Woods said.

The series has brought upon hardcore fanaticism that even goes along the lines of acting like a vampire or dreaming about falling in love with a vampire.

“After I read Twilight, I pretended I was a vampire for half an hour. I tackled my friend Stephanie and accidentally bit her ear to the point where her blood went into my mouth,” Cadic said.

Even though Twilight usually appeals to teenage girls due to its core love story, it has also branched out and reached some males.

“I am the only male that I know that likes Twilight, Woods said.

Stephenie Meyer is expected to come with another book called Midnight Sun, which will be told from Edward’s point of view. At this point, the Twilight hysteria and phenomenon appears like it will continue for awhile.

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