Arts and Entertainment – Page 6

Lure of Chainsaws Steals Sleep

By Chris Fleming and Andrew Morales –

The sound of revving chainsaws marks the start of this year’s video game season. But with new games comes less sleep.

Every year around late September the start of video game season launches with new games released by their manufacturers. Kids, including students from Penn Manor, rush out to get the newest games and play them, but sometimes it’s at the cost of school work and shuteye.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, about nine hours of sleep is needed to function best. Without proper sleep the ability to concentrate, listen and learn are affected. It can also lead to aggressive and uncalled for behavior, like being impatient and irritable. Taken from a study done annually by the National sleep foundation, only 15 percent of teens say they get 8 and 1/2 hours of sleep each night.

“I usually only get five hours of sleep a night when a good game comes out,” said Penn Manor senior Nick Zell.

Many big game producing companies like Epic games, Bungie and Activision have their creations hit shelves before the holidays so kids can put those games on their Christmas wish list. But teens who can’t wait for Santa end up breaking their time with the sandman as well.

“I stay up a lot later and come to school more groggy,” said senior Joey Jackson.

“There’s a midnight release and then you end up playing the new game all night. That’s just how it goes,” said senior Logan White.

This year’s season started off with the highly anticipated game Gears of War 3. “Gear heads” everywhere lined up outside local popular video game stores like Gamestop and Just Press Play, to get their hands on a copy at the midnight release Tuesday.

gears of war 3 logo — This is the Gears of War logo. Courtesy of www.gonzogeek.com

Gears of War 3, the last game to the well liked trilogy exclusive to Xbox 360 users, lets you play with up to a total of four players on co-operative play. With the new ability to be able to spot enemies out for the whole team to see where they are on the map makes this game more of a team-based game compared to the first two.

A new weapon added to the game is not universally popular. The sawed off shotgun, added to the game as a single shot shotgun that takes a long time to reload but has a lot of power at the cost of range. “Gear heads” who have been playing the game since the original Gears of War have stayed loyal to the old shotgun, the gnasher, which is still available to Gears of War 3 gameplay.

sleeping-student3-small — This student fell asleep in class. Courtesy of www.sbschoolboard.info

“The sawed off shotgun is so annoying,” said Matt Flick, from the graduating class of 2010, “I wish everyone would just use the old shotgun.”

Unfortunately for some high school students, game season is a hard time.

“Sometimes I skip school just to play so I can get a head start before my friends,” said senior Liam Kline. “So many nice games coming out right in a row gonna keep me busy.”

“Really looking forward to Modern Warfare 3. I stay up later playing Xbox live before homework,” said Alec Keck.

Gamers can look forward to seeing these new titles being released before the end of the year. Battlefield 3, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 and The elder scrolls V: Skyrim.

Back to the Future Shoes, Are You Buying Them?

By Alexander Sanchez-Cruz –

Time travel is an object of the imagination but now one of Hollywood’s most notable time travel trilogies has become a reality in footwear.

Now people can now buy a “Back To The Future Part 2” Air Mag Marty Mcfly pair of shoes made by Nike. These iconic shoes have been on eBay and have sold for a very high price.

In 1985 the idea of being able to time travel went to the big screen as the “Back To The Future trilogy.” These movies sold millions and were a huge hit, staring Michael J. Fox.

The new Marty Mcfly shoes stepping into the the new era. Picture from counterkicks.com

And 20 years later a futuristic shoe based on the original movies was developed by Nike and made available to fans for 10 days in September.

In fact British rapper Tinie Tempah, spent a whopping $37,500 for the first pair of “Nike Mags,” a limited edition replica of the shoes Marty McFly wore in Back to the Future Part II, TMZ reports.

Nike auctioned 1500 pairs of the shoes on Ebay to benefit the Parkinson’s Foundation. Michael J. Fox suffers from Parkinson’s disease.

According to the Michael J. Fox.org the shoes features an electroluminescent outsole, space-age materials and a rechargeable internal battery good for 3,000 hours. The downside to these shoes is that they’re not made for sports, these shoes are only for show.

Also, as part of the Brin Wojcicki Challenge, Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, and his wife Anne Wojcicki, co-founder of personal genetics company 23andMe, are matching up to $50 million in funds raised by the Foundation between now and December 31, 2012. Net proceeds from the 2011 MAG auctions on eBay will be matched.

It is hoped this money will go to research to finally get rid of this disease, so no one in the future has to face it.

Shangrila Restaurant is a new Favorite among Locals

By Kira Hess –

There’s a Chinese restaurant in York that has a 4 star rating – and for good reason.

Shangrila, which is about 35-40 minutes away from Penn Manor, “warrants the drive out there,” said Andrew Bachman of Washington Boro. “The service is great. The servers, while timid, were very fast at getting drinks and refills and very friendly.”

Right when you walk in there’s a warm welcoming from the host who greets you at the door and seats you right away.

“The service is great,” said Dale Laughman who lives in East Berlin. Zach Perecinsky of Delta agreed and added “the food is even better.”

Shangrila is clean and very well kept. It’s not like most Chinese restaurants, the color pops. There are a lot of reds, oranges and yellows; however, it is not overdone. It looks elegant and makes you very comfortable. It’s certainly better than sitting at little rickety tables you find at other Chinese restaurants that are primarily carryout.

“The restaurant itself is extremely clean and the decor is surprisingly posh for a restaurant. The atmosphere is great,” said Bachman.

The decorations add a nice touch to the restaurant. There are flowers and lamps everywhere. They also have pictures on the walls which add to the color and the surrounding area. The place is very cozy.

The food at Shangrila is amazing according to several local people who have tried it.

“The food is awesome,” said Laughman.

The chicken fried rice, the Dragon and Phoenix, and the orange chicken are phenomenal. All the flavors flow through your mouth. The group favorites were definitely the orange chicken and the chicken fried rice.

While this Chinese restaurant is similar to others in many ways, there are many things about it that make it stand out in a crowd.

“Comparing it to other Chinese places is like comparing a McDonald’s burger to Five Guys. They’re relatively the same but astronomically different,” said Bachman

Overall the place is amazing, it’s a hidden little gem tucked away in a strip mall, very unassuming but once you go you’ll find yourself coming back again and again…

“I recommend it to all of my friends who enjoy Chinese food and often take them out there myself. I’ve yet to hear one person say they didn’t find the food to be the best Chinese food they’ve ever had,” said Bachman.

The Movie, “A Royal Love Story” Showcases Wedding and More

By Jen Felegi –

It’s been all over the news. People have been talking about it for months. Millions watched it on television. Now it’s a movie.

The Royal Wedding, which took place on April 29, 2011, was made into a film a month later.

“William & Kate: A Royal Love Story” was released this month.

Linda Yellen is the director of the film. She was also the producer of “The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana” in 1982.

Yellen said, “William & Kate” is more than just a romance — it’s also “a psychological story of the memory of the mother, in this case Princess Diana, and her legacy.”

Yellen said, “In a way, it’s my tribute to her (Diana) as well as a tribute to the young couple.”

Actress Alice St. Clair playing Kate, and actor Dan Amboyer as William.

She met Princess Diana three times. When Yellen lost her father, on the first day of shooting the film, she better understood some of the scenes in which William was communicating with his mother.

It all began when William had given Diana’s ring to Middleton; the story came to Yellen that instant and within two weeks she finished the script.

Dan Amboyer, who plays William, called the film, “a modern fairy tale.”

The film shares William and Kate’s developing friendship while adding tributes to the memory of Princess Diana.

This film may seem like a true fairy tale for us all. Do not miss the film on the Hallmark Channel in August.

Pippa Middleton, “The Royal Hotness”

By Alicia Ygarza –

Who’s the real princess? Pippa or Kate?

Kate Middleton’s younger sister, Pippa, has suddenly grown increasingly popular and has even been considered the “funner, hotter” sister.

“To a certain section of British men, she’s become the most eligible girl in England,” said Catherine Ostler, editor of Tatler Magazine to an ABC News interview.

“At parties, people are always terribly keen on talking to Pippa. And she has a magnetic effect on men,” said Ostler.

According to US Magazine, Pippa and Kate are publicized as the best of friends but they do have a healthy rivalry.

Pippa Middleton leads the way while sister Kate follows behind

“She was the sister who sparkled,” according to US Magazine’s The Making of a Royal Romance.

According to that article, when Kate went to Marlborough C0llege, the students didn’t recall noticing her.

“Pippa was always more liked at school than Kate because she was very outgoing while Kate was more of a loner,” said an insider in an article in Style Forever.

According to USA Today, Life Line Live, while “racy” pictures of Pippa swarm the web of her in a white skirt and purple bra dancing with a man in his boxers, pictures of Kate pushing a shopping cart while standing on the back of it are the most “racy” pictures people have seen of her yet.

The sisters look identical with their large bright white smiles, button noses and large brownish hazel eyes. Which one would you prefer to date or hang out with?

“I would prefer to date Kate. She has sexy dimples and a beautiful smile. Pippa looks older than Kate and has wrinkles,” said Angel Sanchez, a student at Penn Manor.

“I would rather hangout with Pippa. From what I’ve heard she seems like more fun and she’s more attractive than Kate,” said Troy Diffenderfer, a student at Penn Manor.

“I’d rather date Kate because she has a nice body and her hair is prettier than Pippa’s. Pippa has no swag, she’s an alcoholic and she has a big forehead,” said Shahir Wahidullah.

It seems British and American men don’t have the same taste in women.

Bid Adieu to the Woman You Knew

By Jay Jackson –

Oprah has built up her empire from Chicago, with her talk show debut in 1984 and the show going national just two years later. After 25 years of ground breaking TV, the Oprah Winfrey show is finally coming to a close May 25.

“I think she is a visionary. She honestly inspires me,” said junior Mitch Domin.

With the emotional departure of Oprah Winfrey this will leave empty time slots in many people’s day who regularly watched her show.

“I like Oprah because she is a strong, self-made black woman. She is definitely one of my favorite famous people,” said Domin.

Oprah received her highest rating in 17 years with the three-day final show.

“There are no words to match this moment,” said Winfrey to begin her last show.

The final show had the highest household average viewership since the February 21, 1994 installment “People Shed their Disguises.”

“I started watching the show when she started giving away cars and stuff. It seemed so exciting,” said Domin.

Oprah gave away two cars in the history of the show which were a Pontiac G-6 mid-size 2005 sports sedan, and a new 2012 Beetle that have not been released yet, so the audience has not yet received their new car.

“All she has is all she earned on her own. She is a true entrepreneur,” said senior Darius Howard.

Oprah will truly leave behind a legacy with having over 30,000 guests on her show over a long 25 seasons. Will and Jada Smith had the honor of being the lasts guests on the show.

“The show as seen so much success, but everything needs to come to an end, no matter how great it was. I am going to miss the show to be honest,” said Domin.

She has inspired people across the globe with her quotes that spoke deeply to her audience.

“Follow your instincts. That’s where true wisdom manifests itself,” said Winfrey.

This was just one of the many quotes that as motivated not only Americans but people across the world with her insightful words.

Winfrey has built her empire and is now ranked 3rd in the Forbes “World’s Most Powerful Women” list.

With so much success, there is going to be some jealousy of all of her accomplishments and income.

“She is too rich. I can not afford to watch her,” said Daltyn Willard.

Despite the the critics, Oprah has pulled through a lot in her life, including being sexually abused when she was 9 – 14 years old and becoming pregnant at 14, when her son died in infancy.

Winfrey has over came a lot and has built her empire alone from the ground up. The end to the show is making millions of people sad but everything has to come to an end at some point.

A long 25 seasons have past and the Oprah Winfrey show is coming to a close for good.

Handmade Vanilla Mochi Jewelry is Custom

By Chelsea Miller-

Getting paid for creativity at such a young age is definitely unusual.

Only 15 years old, a jewelry artist’s called simply “Ceaira” is creating her own jewelry and selling it to the world on Facebook. She calls her jewelry line “Vanilla Mochi”. People may consider her a “Scene Queen,” someone who gets a lot of attention on the internet because of their outlandish looks or abilities.

“Making jewelry was something I bounced around in my head for some time because I notice that a lot of people make really cute jewelry and get paid decent for it,” said Ceaira. “Since I’m not old enough to get a job I thought it would be perfect.”

Vanilla Mochi was created on Facebook in March of 2011. Having a little trouble at first she got her friends to model her first designs, so she would get publicity. She also said she had trouble thinking up designs at first.

The inspiration that got the design ideas flowing was a Japanese fashion called Lolita, particularly Sweet Lolita. It deals with lots of pastel colors and certain things that are consider adorable. She wanted to make jewelry that would go well with Lolita fashion. From there on her ideas kept flowing.”

Ceaira’s business is not typical, even for an online business.

To order from Vanilla Mochi, you have to fill out specific information and send it on a message on Facebook.

To actually get your jewelry you have to pay first and then she will make it and send it to you.

You can either pay with Paypal or money order. She also does custom designs, like a certain color on the necklace.

For copyright reasons, if a customer wants a Pokemon character; she puts it under the category of custom, so no one thinks she claimed it as her own.

Ceaira also customizes the materials that go into each jewelry creation.

“I’m hoping to branch out and have a kind of spin-off brand, more things toward the darker side, like Gothic”

Ceaira does not intend to keep this as a main career choice for her future because she has an interest in alternative modeling.

You can go to Vanilla Mochi’s page on Facebook by:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002128757879

or go to Vanilla Mochi’s official website:

www.vanillamochicreations.co.cc

If you have any questions about Vanilla Mochi you can ask Ceaira herself by going to the Facebook link above and messaging her or posting on her wall.

One of Ceaira's creations, a Lollipop necklace

Update your Playlists for the Summer

By Storm Kelley –

Break in the summer with new music from some of your favorite artists.

The list includes artists ranging from a number of genres. Country music by Eric Church, some post-hardcore by Attack! Attack!, “run the world” with R&B singer Beyonce, Get rowdy with Flogging Molly’s new CD, Speed of Darkness, then rap things up with rapper Lil Wayne, The Carter IV.

Lil Wayne's Carter IV Album Cover. Courtesy of RapUp.com

Country star Eric Church re-enters the scene with his new CD, Chief, being released on July 26. Church released his single, titled “Homeboy” for the album, on February 28. Some tracks on his new album include “Drink in my hand”, “Springsten” and “Over when its over.” According to Billboard.com, Church’s single is rated number 21 on this weeks most popular country songs chart.

Looking for some beats to drive around with? Lil Wayne releases his new CD in the Carter series, The Carter IV, on June 21. After much anticipation for Wayne’s new album and many delays, Zimbio.com released information about rapper Lil Wayne’s mix-tape leak. Songs that the album are to include are titles, Exclusive, How you doing, and a hidden track, Call of Duty. Wayne calls upon a few other rappers for his new CD, with feats including, popular rappers, Jay-Z, Dre, Swizz Beatz, and Tyga.

With much enthusiasm for Wayne’s new release, Brendan Carroll, a senior at Penn Manor High school calls Wayne, “the black Jesus Christ.”

Beyonce released her single “Run the World (girls)” for her new album 4, on May 19. According to NME.com the first for music news, Beyonce states, her next single “1+1” is her favorite song on the album. 4 comes out on June 28th, and has been confirmed to feature a collaboration with Andre 3000, from the band Outkast. Some titles from the album include; “Love on top,” “I miss you,” and “End of time.”

Flogging Molly's Speed of Darkness ablum cover. Courtesy of LA Times.

Cody Wedge, a senior at Penn Manor High school, describes Beyonce as, “amazing and beautiful.”

The post-hardcore band Attack! Attack! brings it back with their new album titled, The Latest Fashion. On a review given by Alterthepress.com, Sean Reid says, “Although some of the ideas, especially the guitar work, later on sounds recycled, Attack! Attack! have managed to produce a record that is persistent throughout and does not disappoint.” Titles on the album include “Seen me lately,” “Everybody knows,” and “No excuses.” The Latest Fashion is expected to be released on June 21.

For those of you who are impatient, you may find solace in Flogging Molly’s, Speed of darkness. Speed of darkness is released today. Containing tracks titled, “Revolution,” “So Sail on,” and “Saints and sinners.” This will be the fifth installment to the celebrated celtic punk ensemble. Song writer Dave King quoted, “It wasn’t the album we set out to write. It became the album we had to write.”

A senior at Penn Manor, Taylor Stump, describes the band as a “rowdy bar band.”

Get your Ipod out and update that playlist because summer’s hot days are right around the corner.

Wall Mosaic Won’t be Complete

By Lyta Ringo –

In the past years, hundreds of students have worked on it. Put all their time and effort into the mosaic, and in the end, the wall will not be completed by its scheduled time.

Terry Hay, an art teacher at Penn Manor and the head of the Starry Night Mosaic said, “I figure we lost about twenty days of glass application (just this year).”

Whitney Reno, a senior at Penn Manor also noted that a lot of time was lost this school year due to an increase in weather problems.

“There was a week straight of rain and I couldn’t go out and work on the wall,” said Reno, “at that time that was the only step I had to work on.”

The glass will not all be on the wall by the end of this school year, leaving lots of summer work up to Mrs.Hay. The wall has been worked on by many students in the district throughout the year.

“Students that were finished with their class work, worked on finishing the glass pieces,” said Hay, “Every single one of my students this year has done glass work.”

The glass work is considered the easiest part of the process, however, the most time consuming. Hay commented that having every student help was a good thing because the students will be able to look back and know that they were a part of the mosaic.

One student in the school has put a lot on work into the wall. Reno has been helping with the wall since the day the project began. This year she took an independent study, during second block, to focus entirely on the mosaic.

Reno stated that she likes the design aspect of the project. She will be attending college for a degree in design next year.

“Putting the design together, onto the paper model,” said Reno, “I only did it for a short time, but it was my favorite part.”

The time consuming steps to the wall can cause some mixed emotions about the project.

“I enjoyed putting it (the mosaic) on the wall, but it got frustrating,” said Reno.

Even though the wall is not complete, the product so far has those involved very optimistic.

“I’m happy (with how the mosaic is turning out) the only thing is there is a grid line, and you can see the individual sections,” said Reno, “I’d like for them to not be there, but in a way it’s kind of cool because each student will be able to know which part they helped work on.”

The Starry Night Mosaic has been a learning experience for all.

Mrs.Hay said, “The one thing this (mosaic) has taught me is that going slow does have it’s advantages.”

McCreery, America’s Newest Idol

By Kayla Pagan –

Wednesday night American Idol fans chose the tenth season winner, Scotty McCreery.

Seventeen-year-old McCreery and runner up, Lauren Alaina who is 16 walked hand-in-hand for the all-country two-hour finale in Los Angeles.

Together they brought the biggest amount of votes in the history of American Idol with a total of 122.4 million viewer votes.

“I was rooting for Scotty McCreery,” said senior Ashley Bowers. ” I love his voice and I’m glad he won.”

McCreery stuck to his style by putting his own country twist to every week’s challenge.

He had out-shined top singers such as 20-year-old Casey Abrams, a jazz fanatic of Idyllwild, California, 22-year-old rock lover from Santa Cruz, California, James Durbin to Haley Reinhart, a 20-year-old vocalist from Wheeling Illinois.

Unlike Alaina, he was outgoing and connected very well with the audience. He had an idea why he had been voted American Idol’s tenth season winner.*

1b792_Scotty_McCreery_110525_wg — American Idol's tenth season winner. Photo courtesy of frogenyozurt.com.

“It’s because I’m one of them. I was just a kid who was bagging groceries three months ago,” he told Derrik J. Lang, a member of the Associated Press.

Wednesday the two finalist had performed individually with Tim McGraw, a country icon as well as Carrie Underwood, Idol’s fourth season winner. The two were the youngest pair in the history of Idol. Alaina had just made the cut for the season auditions last year, auditioning at age 15 which is the minimum age requirement.

“Scotty wasn’t my favorite from the beginning,” said senior Kendal Siegworth. “But after awhile he started growing on me, I definitely think he deserved to win. He is extremely talented.”