Spirit Week Fashion Advice

Fashion Advice

Mel Videto

Want some fashion tips for Spirit Week this year? Well, read up on some of my advice so you can put the spirit in Spirit Week and help support your school!

Fashion Disaster (Monday, October 6th)

Well, this is pretty straight forward. Any colors that don’t match or that you wouldn’t normally wear together is exactly what you want for this day. Take any color from the color wheel and match it up with the color opposite it. This means that they compliments each color. Red, for example, is the opposite of green. Put those together and you get a wacky Christmas look! Or take purple and pair it with yellow for a flashy look. However, you don’t have to wear opposite clothes. If you really want to clash, take two colors on the color wheel that are next to each other and wear them. Examples would be red and pink, orange and yellow, green and blue. Just take anything bright or colorful and wear it!

Textures and patterns can also screw up your outfit (on purpose, of course). Ladies, you can take a burnout-textured shirt and match it with striped leggings or cardigan. Or take plaid and put that on top of your favorite patterned leggings. I think that layers work well and can work with any look that you want to go with. Here, we want a disaster. Perhaps throw in a cardigan or vest over an already crazy look. Guys, maybe you want to wear man leggings under your favorite shorts? Or perhaps wear a long sleeve under a short sleeve or muscle tank? Or hike you socks up over your shorts? Anything crazy is acceptable!

Let’s talk pants. For the girls (or guys if you wish), feel free to go all-out with the crazy leggings and match it with a patterned shirt. Or even wear shorts with any kind of leggings under them for layered look. Dawn the necklaces and heavy jewelry! Get out those crazy high knee socks and put them over jeans! The crazier you look, the better. Remember to put the disaster in fashion disaster!

Twin Day (Tuesday, October 7th)

For twin day, you obviously want to find a person or two to match with. While you can plan on just wearing the same jeans and perhaps a shirt that you both happen to have, why not consider dressing it up a little bit? We can take fragments of advice from fashion disaster day to make your outfit more tasteful and exciting. Why not go with matching knee socks or leggings? Feel free to swap a shoe so you and your partner can go around school with one flip flop and one Ugg boot each. Remember, twin day doesn’t have to be just about matching, you can dress it up!

Patriot Day (Wednesday, October 8th)

Okay, we all know what this means. Dawn your red, white, and blue clothing! For some people, wearing red and white tops with regular old blue jeans is enough, but for those of you who want to show more school spirit, there is a lot more that you can do. You could paint your nails American colors or even make you eye shadow red, white, or blue! Find a shirt with our flag on it or if you have a belt, necklace, bracelet, or even sticker, wear it for Patriot Day!

#Throwback Thursday (Thursday, October 9th)

For this day, you can dress as someone from any past decade. You can do anything from the  20s to 90s! Or even from way before! Use this day to dress as extravagantly as you wish. Dig out those old leg warmers or don the rainbow colors. Don’t hold back - throw it all back to last Thursday, whether that’s from last week or last century!

Bleed Blue (Friday, October 10th)

We can all guess what we should wear for this day, but some people may just decide to wear jeans. While that’s enough, you can also layer the blue with some more blue! Paint the nails blue or wear blue socks. Any blue jewelry works as well. Or, since this blue day is mostly to represent our school, why not match it up with some white? White tank top with a blue cardigan? Or just have your whole outfit be blue! Aspire to look like a blueberry!

Have fun dressing up!

Book Review: Tuesdays With Morrie

Peter Davis

      Tuesdays with Morrie is a incredible story about an old man, a young man, and life's greatest lessons.  It is a true story written by Mitch Albom, and I would recommend it to anyone.  A young man, Mitch Albom, reconnects with his favorite college professor, Morrie Schwartz, after losing all connections, by seeing him on the news one night.  Mitch has become caught up in his work and has forgotten the lessons that his former professor taught him.  Morrie is diagnosed with ALS and learns that he has less than a year to live.  Every tuesday they meet, and Morrie gives his outlooks on life's most important lessons in Tuesdays With Morrie.

Wonderful Town a Wonderful Show!

Tamsin Smith  

If you have been hanging out after school anytime in the past few months and have wandered past the auditorium, you probably caught a glimpse of the drama department practicing for their annual musical.   This year, they performed Wonderful Town, a successful Broadway show, which premiered in 1953.  Despite its success, it is not well known, especially among high school audiences.  Wonderful Town takes place in the 1930s, in Greenwich Village, New York.  It stars Ruth and Eileen Sherwood, who have moved to New York from Columbus, Ohio, in order to pursue their dreams.  Ruth (Lucia Helgren) is older and much more serious than Eileen and she plans on becoming a writer.  Meanwhile, the pretty and popular Eileen (Lexington Swartwood) wants to make it big in the performing industry.  Both sisters find settling into Greenwich difficult and have a hard time finding jobs as well.  Eileen catches a few breaks because of her popularity with men, which later gets her into trouble.  While hunting for a job, Ruth meets Bob Barker (Josh Apker), who works in the offices of a short story magazine.  Eileen bumps into Bob as well, and invites him to dinner, along with Chick Clark (Jake Elkins) and Frank Lippencott (Richie Howell).  Both sisters find themselves attracted to Bob, and the evening takes an awkward turn.  Bob and Ruth have a falling out over her writing, and they both leave.  Ruth goes to a shipyard to report on a new arrival of Portuguese sailors and ends up leading them back to her neighborhood.  The singing, dancing sailors cause a riot and Eileen is arrested.  In the second act, Ruth finds a job at a nightclub and tries to get Eileen out of jail.  Both sisters also grapple with their feelings for Bob, and all the while search for their perfect job.  This musical is filled with memorable characters, including Wreck (David Perfetti), a bum who briefly lives with Ruth and Eileen, and his lover, Helen (Bailey Kote).

The drama department put on an extremely fun show with Wonderful Town.  In my opinion, some of its best moments were “Conga”, sung by the Portuguese sailors, and Wreck’s character.  The costumes were fun and appropriate to the time period- there were quite a few costume changes as well!  Good job, Mrs. Votra!  Of course, the singing was great, with excellent performances by the seniors: Lucia, Lexi, Josh, and Richie.  Although you could not see the pit band this year, they did a good job.  Mr. DiGennaro could be seen when the lights were down, conducting enthusiastically!  The sets were great, thanks to Louise Felker.  Mrs. McLaughlin should be proud of putting on such an enjoyable, wonderful show! 

                                   

Les Misérables

Jared Pace

Les Misérables, released on December 25th, is a rendition of the famous musical and novel by Victor Hugo. This movie was directed by Tom Hooper, director of The King’s Speech, and stars Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, and Amanda Seyfried. Set during the increasingly-chaotic times of 19th century France, Les Misérables describes a surprisingly-heartwarming tale of pure sacrifice and redemption in the face of insurmountable odds. I recommend that moviegoers bring tissues, in case they feel the need to shed a few tears, as this movie sends audiences through emotionally-turbulent joyrides!

Tom Hooper did a spectacular job incorporating as much detail as he possibly could into the plot and setting. Not only that, but he also had a stellar cast and crew, and the actors each demonstrated their acting prowess in extraordinary ways. Although the film lasts a lengthy two hours and thirty-eight minutes, I guarantee that moviegoers will be engrossed by the story within the first few minutes of the film. It’s a must-see for anyone who enjoys the arts.

Personally, I have no complaints to share about the film. I felt a fervor that gradually built up over the course of the film, keeping me emotionally engaged and ultimately keeping the audience entertained. The soundtrack is superb, which only accentuates the heightened emotional moments. I was satisfied by the time I saw the credits roll off the screen, deeply gratified that I watched such a marvelous performance. Overall, a highly-recommended film that I believe everyone should take the time to see!

Book Review: Delirium

Kennedy George

          Lauren Oliver’s novel, Delirium, is set in the future. In this book, every individual of 18 years must be cured of a disease, known as amor deliria nervosa, which is their name for love. In the future, they believe that the “disease” of love is the root of all other problems of society and that it must be destroyed in all humans before they show symptoms. So, people go through a surgery that "cures" them of the ability to love. The government then plans out everyone’s life for them.
           In the novel, the main character is Lena Haloway, a soon-to-be 18-year-old. She can’t wait for her procedure to cure her of amor deliria nervosa, due to her family’s history. But then, at her evaluation, which is a test given by the government to determine everyone’s future, she sees something that changes her life forever.
           Delirium will leave you wanting to know more, and it has an amazing cliff-hanger ending. The novel has many characters that all play important roles throughout the novel. The plot is always twisting, and the society that Lauren Oliver has created has many layers and secrets. After reading Delirium, I would give it four out of five stars.
           If you read Delirium and want to find out more, the sequel is Pandemonium. Coming out on March 5, 2013 is the third book in the series, Requiem. There is also a runoff book in the series, called Hana, dedicated to the story of Lena’s best friend.
           Still not sure whether or not to read this book? Here’s another review on Delirium:
          “This story races forward, twisting in a new direction every few pages, its characters spinning my emotions from affection to frustration, anger to compassion. You’ll have no choice but to tear through this book!” -Jay Asher, author of the New York Times Bestseller Thirteen Reasons Why.

The Hobbit

Kennedy George

The Hobbit, which was released on Friday, December 14, is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It was directed by Peter Jackson, and it starred Andy Serkis, Martin Freeman, and Ian Mckellan. The movie follows the early adventures of a hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. The story is based on the book, The Hobbit, by J. R. R Tolkien, and will be separated into three different movies.

The detail in the plot and setting of the movie is amazing. Characters’ story lines are followed from beginning to end, and there are many characters from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The scenery is vivid and the wardrobe for all of the characters is very convincing and realistic. The scenery is especially amazing when seen in 3D! The soundtrack steals the show, though. Throughout the movie, there are elaborate instrumental pieces that set up the emotions of the scenes for the audience. Without this soundtrack, the movie would not have panned out as well.

The only two complaints I have are that the movie could be shorter, as a lot of the content was not necessary to the plot of the movie. Sitting through a film that is almost three hours long (166 minutes, exactly) can be tiring, and it makes it hard to concentrate on the details. The second complaint I have is of the few songs the dwarves sing. The scenes with the songs in them feel out of place. The songs diminish the serious mood of certain scenes and the movie, as a whole.

Overall, though, The Hobbit deserves four out of five stars.