Lend an ear to 7th Heaven

7^th heaven is a Chicago-based band. They formed in 1985 and are still together and performing today.

The band was started by lead guitarist, Richie Hofherr and bass player, Michael Mooshy. The band plays popular songs other bands have recorded.

I recently had the chance to see them at a festival in Elgin. For 45 minutes we stood, speakers blaring, people screaming and all,and listened to this great band.

Overall, 7^th Heaven is a very good band; I would recommend them to anyone who likes bands that play cover songs.

By Elisa Hill

Planking sweeping the nation

Planking is a new fad catching on like wildfire.

Planking is fun, easy, and usually pretty funny. All one needs to do to complete a successful plank is lie face down with their arms at their side in an unusual location, and then snap a photo for Facebook.

Millions of people around the world are giving a try at planking,  and it has even been seen around Westminster. Inspired by planking, people have come up with similar things, such as owing, lamping, or, my personal favorite, batmanning.

Planking can be done by anybody, which is why it is growing in popularity so fast. The excitement of planking makes almost everybody want to try.

But be careful where you plank; some people have gotten into quite a bit of trouble while trying to pull of a cool plank. A young man from Queensland was arrested while attempting to plank atop of a police car. What would have been a legendary plank turned out to be some trouble for him.

Planking is a fun and usually harmless game, but be careful where you choose to pose.

'American Idol' Obsessed

The tenth season of the singing competition show "American Idol" turned out to be an enormous hit this year.

Despite predictions made by many that the show would never make it with the loss of everyone’s favorite British judge, Simon Cowell, the season turned out to be one of the most successful in Idol history. The diversity and undeniable talent of the group of contestants has made the show’s ratings soar and brought in a ridiculous amount of revenue.

The top eleven contestants went on tour this summer, and tickets quickly sold out in the majority of venues. Winner Scotty McCreery’s and runner up Lauren Alaina’s singles “I Love You This Big” and “Like My Mother Does” have done extremely well on country charts.

McCreery quickly rose to Number 32 on Billboard’s Nielsen Country Songs chart, a record for a new artist’s first single, while Alaina landed at number 49. “I Love You This Big” became number one on iTunes singles chart as well.

While these two teenage superstars are doing incredibly well, Pia Toscano, who shockingly placed ninth in the season, also has a single out titled “This Time” that is doing pretty well on the charts. Hopefully other talented contestants, such as Haley Reinhart and James Durbin, will come out with singles of their own soon.

Scotty McCreery’s album “Clear As Day” will come out Oct. 4, along with Alaina’s, entitled “Wildflower,” out Oct. 11. If the past year is any indication, it seems that these two have long and successful careers ahead of them in country music.

By: Alexis Brenner

Get involved with the ARC

Do you know who helped Katrina victims in 2005? What about the more recent, massive earthquake in Japan?

The American Red Cross was founded in 1881. Within the past year, 175,000 volunteers of the association dedicated themselves to the preparation, prevention, and responsive action to approximately 64,000 disasters. Ninety-seven percent of the workers for the Red Cross are simply benevolent volunteers.

Aside from giving aid to disastrous incidents, over 190,000 Red Cross volunteers annually collect six million pints of blood. Volunteers also serve as Community Education course instructors. For example, they teach the fundamentals of CPR, First Aid, or other similar courses.

Great news! You can also get involved in volunteering for the American Red Cross association. How, you ask? There are multiple internship opportunities among both high school and college students. To explore the possibility of this riveting chance to help and serve others within or outside your community, visit this website: http://www.redcross.org/en/volunteer.

By: Alison Howey

Reflections on Women’s World Cup 2011

Only once every 4 years does a World Cup in soccer come, but when it does, the world tunes in and cheers their favorite team on, becoming the psychotic fans they are meant to be.

This summer was the year of the women’s World Cup. Sixteen teams battled it out to get a chance of winning, any soccer team's dream of raising that trophy high in the air as confetti falls and the world rejoices. Injuries, sweat, tears, smiles, tackles, shots, and blocks determined the teams who pushed through into the finals.

The first team to advance was USA. An intense semifinal against Brazil, which was determined by penalty kicks, led the USA the shot of winning the World Cup.

The team USA would be playing in the finals was the shocking advancement of Japan.  Japan led a dominating 3-1 game over Sweden in the semifinals. A tough, intense, suspenseful game was played as the courageous Japanese and determined USA played their hearts out to the last and final whistle.

The shocker of the game was the end result. The underdogs came on top. These Japan women survived the tsunami and put everything they had into this tournament for their country and lost friends to become the champions of the Women’s World Cup of 2011.

Confetti fell as Japan raised their hands up high cheering and crying for the accomplishment that seemed impossible for these survivors. They proved the doubting world wrong. They fought for their country, friends, family, and one another. They have become the main example of the saying that what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.

By: Mallory Richardson

Don't write Black off yet

Fourteen-year-old Rebecca Black is not just a young girl posting videos on YouTube; she has become quite famous from her hit music video “Friday.”

The young girl has few fans and endures rude comments and death threats. Some may wonder why she has all those haters and here is my answer: her cheesy lyrics and auto-tuned voice makes her come off as an amateur. She sounds young and doesn’t show that she has what it takes to become a pop star.

The growing artist has a lot to work on before I would consider her to be worth listening to. However, I believe that with some voice lessons and a creative mind Rebecca could go far.

By Rachel Fugiel

A summer well spent

While most teenagers spent their summers at the pool, watching TV, or hanging with friends, I spent two months in the remote Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Here, I worked at Camp Paradise.

I worked with the kids and helped run the high ropes course and climbing tower. There was no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and no cell phone service. While this might scare off many, I loved living a more simplistic and slow-paced life.

Camp Paradise was designed for fathers to come with their son or daughter. It was great waking up every morning knowing that you were helping strengthen these father-child relationships. Yes, we worked hard, woke up early, and stayed up late, but there is truly no better way to spend your summer. Being in this quiet atmosphere with limited distractions was refreshing, life-giving, and a fantastic way to connect with your Maker.

This environment also allowed me to build relationships that go a lot deeper than the surface with other staff members, all committed to a goal bigger than themselves. It was definitely a summer well spent.

By: Whitney Vanden Bos

Colin Unleashed in His Jimmer Obsession

Jimmer Fredette was named college basketball player of the year in this past season. Colin Brandon was a faithful fan of Jimmer all year.

He watched almost every Brigham Young basketball game, which is the universty Jimmer attends. A quote from Colin about Jimmer's playing habits goes something like: “He's just a Morman full of crazy game.”

Jimmer is Colin’s athletic role model and he strives to ball like Jimmer. Colin also states that Mr. Fredette is “the boss of all bosses.”

Jimmer was drafted into the NBA this off-season and Colin is very excited to continue cheering on his favorite basketball player through out His career.

Colin was resently caught singing about how Jimmer is a friend of his.

By: Wil Woodhouse

NBA Lockout

This year's NBA basketball season is on the line, all because most of the teams lost money this season instead of gaining money. 

There have been a few meetings where the league is trying to work with the players to make an agreement on how much they will be making in the years to come.  Since many of the star players' salaries will be decreasing, they have not been super thrilled or cooperative while negotiating. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Forward said "We're going to stand up for what we have to do, no matter how long it's going to take, No matter how long the lockout's going to take, we're going to stand up. We're not going to give in." 

While there is still a lockout going on, no teams are allowed to meet, practice, or workout together.  Until this lockout is resolved, there is no sign of an NBA season this year, so hopefully the owners and players will be able to come to an agreement and so there will be a season this year.

By Colin Brandon

Senior life

Writing about senior life and all things associated with the word senior is bittersweet for me.

When I sat down to write this I looked over and there on the wall is a picture of baby me. Where has the time gone? ... But enough of that-- time to buck up and face this senior year with boldness, a good work ethic,  and the attitude of a senior.

With all the major events making their way up the calendar, it's awkward to view them as last high school experiences. Like, on the first day, seniors everywhere had most likely had this thought pop up in their almost-of legal age noggin: "Wow, today is my last first day of highschool....hm...."

While some embraced this with open arms, others pushed away the harsh sounding truth like an awkward hug from an unknown family member (specifically a distant cousin or a too quiet uncle). Don't get me wrong; I'm sure this senior year/class will have a remarkable time on all the trips and dances that come about, but it's scary to think how fast the years are starting to go by. People tell you your whole childhood "ENJOY BEING A CHILD" and you sit there with your razor flip phone and your too expensive t-shirt that says something along the lines of, "JuSt MoNkeYin AroUnd" and think to your middleschool self, "I cant wait to be 18 so I can finally do whatever i want........and order the pasta boat off that infomercial."

But I'm here to say, my almost 18 year old self finds itself wanting to revert back to those days a lot of the time, because sometimes in middle school you forget growing up comes with responsibilities, like a job, and college, and curfews, and mean people. So while this "senior life article" has turned into a rant that I'm not sure what to call, I'm basically here to tell everyone in the grades below me, enjoy being young and don't grow up to fast, because before you know it you'll be sitting in your home office on a weekday afternoon writing about senior life, when it feels like yesterday you were catching frogs in your neighbor's backyard pond and running around not caring if you were smelly, sticky, or lice-ridden.

By Taylor DePola

"Wasting Light" review

I have reviewed the band called the” Foo Fighters.”

They have been a band since 1994 and they are still active today.

The Foo Fighters’ genre is Alternate Rock; however, the band plays different styles of music.  

The band released an album called the “Wasting Light” April 12, 2011. In this album, there are 11 tracks with different styles of music.  The title of the album is a song called “Miss the Misery.” I have two favorite songs and they are called “But Honestly” and “Walk.”

Even though people differ in their favorite styles of music, I recommend listening to the songs in this album.

By Charlie Ji

A Summer to Remember

It all began on a warm sunny day early in the month of June. I arose before dawn packing my baseball gear into the trusty truck preparing to make my first trip to meet my new ball team in Nashville, Tennessee.

Upon arriving at the hotel after a scenic road trip to Nashville, each teammate was introduced. It was an amazing feeling that, while a stranger, there was still a sense that there was a unique bond among each of us. There was an immediate reality, that as a team, we had something special. A baseball team brimming with talented players from across the country we began our journey.

That weekend not a game was lost.  From there we traveled to many different cities within states such as California, Florida, and Georgia, playing against some of the best competition one could find, along the way winning three tournaments and two national championships as well as developing friendships that will last a lifetime.

For me, playing baseball is like being at home, giving me a sense of happiness. This summer gave me that opportunity to do so; it will always be one summer I will never forget.

By Kevin Elder

Fighting depression

School has officially started, and summer is officially coming to a close. As teenagers, this turn of events can be one of the most tragic events we will face as young adults. For some, this change from summer to being back in school is so drastic that they don’t know how to cope with it.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing difficulty concentrating, fatigue, decreased energy, feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, feelings of hopelessness and/or pessimism, you may be suffering from clinical depression. If the signs listed above sound like what you’ve been feeling lately, do not fear, because I have some tips that will help you deal with your condition.

Overcoming depression isn’t quick or easy, but it’s far from impossible. You can make a huge dent in your depression with simple lifestyle changes. First off, try exercising every day. Exercising causes a release of a neurotransmitters called endorphins, which are known for their ability to produce a feeling of well-being.

Avoid the urge to isolate yourself from others. Take time out of your day for rest and relaxation. These things will do nothing more than allow you to sit around and feel sorry for yourself. Stay active and talk to your friends.

Feeling better takes time, but you can get there if you make positive choices for yourself each day and draw on the support of others.

By Dylan Scully

"The Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

The Planet of the Apes reboot was a major improvement from the Tim Burton remake in 2001. 

One of the biggest improvements was the cast.  James Franco was much more convincing than Mark Wahlberg was.  Instead of sticking actors in ape suits like Tim Burton did, director Rupert Wyatt hired the visual effects team that worked on the Avatar and the Lord of the Rings series to bring his computer generated apes to life.  He also hired Andy Serkis, known for his playing Gollum and King Kong, to do the performance capture for Caesar, the leading ape in the film. 

I give this film a solid nine out of ten James Franco is better than Mark Wahlbergs.

By Bryce McAuliffe

ALCD race heating up

Recently in baseball, especially the American League Central Division, things are getting tight.

The playoffs are right around the corner and the American League (AL) Central currently in first place hanging on by 5 1/2 games are the Detroit Tigers who seem to be unbeatable at this time behind their possible Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander. Verlander has thrown a no hitter and can easily hit triple digits on the radar gun.

In second place is the Chicago White Sox who are starting a series with the Anahiem Angels.

Meanwhile, tied with the Whitesox are the Cleveland Indians, who are on the losing hand of a four game losing streak. Cleveland will play a series against the Seatle Mariners.

But can anyone beat the red hot Tigers, who are on a four-game win streak? Justin Verlander (pitcher), Miguel Cabrera (first base), Alex Avila (catcher), Jose Valverde (closer), and Jhonny Peralta (shortstop) all made the All-Star team. That is the same amount of all-stars from both Cleveland and Chicago combined!

However, you can't leave any team out of it. Cleveland consists of a dominating right-hander, Fausto Carmona, who has struggled and then picked him self up and brought himself back to the top of his game.

In Chicago, who won the 2005 World Series with one of the best pitching rotations in history? Paul Konerko, a member of that championship team, has played for the White Sox since 1999.

Can Paul lead the Sox to another championship? Or will the tribe turn things around and make a break for it? Maybe the Tigers can stay calm under pressure and take the franchise to its fifth World Series Championship!

By: Andrew Ryan