Small Town Girl to Country Sensation By Alexa B.

In 2006, an unknown country artist named Taylor Swift released her first single, Tim McGraw. Then she became a huge hit all over the nation. Born on December 13, 1989, Taylor Swift grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. In fourth grade, Taylor Swift won a national poetry contest. Her entry was a three page poem called “Monster in My Closet”. Then Taylor discovered her love of music. She always mentions on how poetry inspired her to write music. She convinced her parents to move to Nashville. There she walked from record company to record company explaining her situation. She would hand them a demo CD, and walk out hoping they would give her a chance. Finally a record company called Big Machine Records, signed a deal with Taylor Swift.
Soon later she came out with her first album called Taylor Swift. The album contained about 5 hit singles. The singles were Teardrops on my Guitar, Picture to Burn, Our Song, Should’ve Said No, and of course Tim McGraw. She also went on tour later in 2007-2008 for her first album. The songs were a huge hit, capturing young kids to adults. On November 11, 2008, Taylor Swift released her second album, Fearless. One of the hits was called Love Story. The song soon climbed the charts. Also the hit song You Belong With Me, was featured on the album. Two more hit songs were featured on the Fearless album, White Horse and Fifteen. Also, the song Forever and Always was on the album. This song was written about Joe Jonas, who had broken up with her over a text.
Recently at the CMA’s, Taylor won four awards, including Entertainer of the Year, the biggest honor in Country Music. She beat some of the best country artists ever, and was the first girl to win the award for several years. She has been up for several nominations, even winning Artist of The Year at the AMA’s. She beat Michael Jackson! She was recently on Saturday Night Live, where she sang “Monologue Song”. She mentioned Taylor Lautner, Joe Jonas, and even said a few words about Kanye West and “how he ruined her VMA monologue!” She also took part in a spoof for Twilight, called Firelight. When Taylor came to Mohegan Sun this August for her Fearless 2009 Tour, her concert was sold out. In October, most of her tickets went on sale, and sold out in minutes. Over the past three years, a nineteen year old Pennsylvania small town girl, became one of the most popular artists in history. I think that deserves some major credit!

Artist of the Week! by Jackie B.

Michael Jackson is our first artist of the week! He is the king of pop. Kids today love his music even thought he was popular in the 80’s! He has worked so hard his whole career singing and writing his songs. He has dedicated a lot of his time to his career. Eventually that paid off, he had the top selling album “Thriller.” He is known for his dance moves and he even choreographs his own moves! He has won so many awards and will go down in history forever.

Michael Jackson
Date of Birth: August 29th, 1958
Death: June 25th, 2009
Height: 5’ 10”
Started Career: Age 11
Year Started and Ended Career: 1964-2009
Group: Jackson 5, Solo Artist
Top album: Thriller, Released November, 1982 (Sold 29 million copies)
Greatest move: “Moonwalk”
Nickname: “The Gloved One”
Genres: R&B, Pop, Rock, Soul, Dance
Profession: Artist, Record Producer, Singer, Songwriter, Director, Choreographer, Dancer
Instruments: Piano, Vocals, Guitar, Beat-Box
First #1 single as solo artist: “Ben “Released in 1983
Number of Grammy’s: 13
Songs recorded: about 192

Do You Believe in Atlantis?

What is Your Favorite Computer?

What is your top Song?

The Clique: An Ah-Mazzing Book Review By Alexa B. And Jill M.

 

 The Clique: The first book out of twelve

The Clique Series: By Lisi Harrison;  Jill and Alexa’s Rating :4 out of 5  ****     
                The Clique. Also known as The Pretty Committee, the clique practically runs the seventh grade at OCD, a private school in Westchester, Massachusetts. Massie, the “alpha” of the Pretty Committee, is out to get Claire, a girl who is now living in her guesthouse. But Claire, a sweet innocent girl from Orlando, Florida, just wants to be friends with Massie and her BFFS Dylan, Kristen, and Alicia. Dylan, a stunning redhead, is always eating and making gross jokes about food. Alicia, who always claims she is from Spain, is filthy rich like the rest of her friends, and one day just maybe, she would like to take over Massie’s throne.  Kristen, who always seems to be borrowing money from her friends (even though she is rich???), is on the lower status of the Pretty Committee, but is also determined not to let Claire into their small group of friends. It soon becomes a big mess, and the clique might be in some deep trouble.  Shopping, friends, enemies, and AIM, the clique is an ah-mazing (as Massie would say) series that will capture you from the first book. Jill and I completely advise you to read this book.

 

A growing trend: Facebook by Dan K.

Since their launch in February 2004, they’ve been able to obtain over 8 million users in the U.S. alone and expand worldwide to 7 other English-speaking countries, with more to follow.

Originally called “thefacebook”, this global trend is growing with more languages, like “Pirate” for all those “scurvy dogs lookin’ for mateys”, and more possibilities for customization.  It is mainly used to connect people with each other across the world and to upload and share photos.

Facebook was founded by former-Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, while he was at Harvard, who ran it as one of his hobbies with some monetary help from Eduardo Saverin. Within months, Facebook and its foundation idea spread across the dorm rooms of Harvard where it was loved. Soon after, it was extended to Stanford and Yale where it was also widely endorsed.

Before he knew it, Mark Zuckerberg was joined by two other fellow Harvard-students to help him grow the site to the next level of social networking. Only months later, when it was officially a national student network occurrence, Zuckerberg and Moskovitz dropped out of Harvard to pursue their dreams and run Facebook full time. In August 2005, thefacebook was officially called Facebook and the domain facebook.com was purchased for a reported $200,000.

Facebook is a massively successful social networking service that grew to prominence in practically no time. It’s not hard to see why either, with its features and tools that are highly appealing, and Facebook users are extremely well networked in real life. Rumors of a purchase of Facebook continue to circulate, with some estimates putting the price in the billions of dollars. In the short term, however, Facebook plans to go it alone, continuing to build out one of the world’s most successful social networks.

Teen Trends: Animal Print, Military and…..Hugging? by Natalie G.

There have always been problems with teen generations in the past, but for this generation the problem seems to be… hugging? According to the New York Times, many schools have resorted to banning hugging in the hallways. Some schools have even broken down the different “types” of hugs, including: 

The Friend Hug

Bear Hug

Bear Claw: Variation of bear hug

High-Five Fist Bump

Triple: 3 or more people hugging at once

The Teepee or A-Frame: Huggers who don’t really want to touch each other, so they stand a foot and a half away, bend at the waist and awkwardly hug.

Koala: The taller person wraps their arms around the shorter one’s shoulders while standing to the side.

The Arm Hug: The shorter person clings to the other person’s arm while standing to the side.

Guy Hug: Shake hands while hugging and after a pat on the back.

Have you ever gone up to your friend and hugged them instead of a proper “Hi” or “Hey”? More and more teens across the country are going down this route and in the process, confusing parents and teachers. They come from a generation of hand-shakes and this new form of greeting is deemed unnecessary. Students are hugging all day long in between classes. Amy L. Best, a sociologist says the teen hug is a reflection of American greetings at the moment, as the US is becoming less and less formal since the 1970’s.  Many parents are puzzled at all the physical greetings. After all, isn’t this generation supposedly the most “technology-advanced” which is also totally virtual? Researchers figure maybe because many kids will Facebook or IM each other after school instead of picking up and calling, they feel they need more human contact.  One girl from Chevy Chase High School says hugging is like air-kissing. It’s superficial and doesn’t mean much anymore. Schools are now attacking hugging and banning it in the hallways. Some bans have even been in place for over 3 years now. Principals say the hugging is needless- it’s not a greeting, just something to do in the hallways. Another problem with the new trend is germs. This fall is one of the most dangerous flu seasons, with seasonal and H1N1 moving around quickly. To top it off, children are the most susceptible to contracting the flu. Try counting how many times you hug or get hugged today. Bet it’s a lot more than you thought it was. **Hug**

Harry Potter Theme Park Coming Out!!!

     There is a new Harry Potter Theme Park coming out in spring of 2010 in Universal Orlando. There are going to be many shops of Hogsmeade and you will be able to see inside of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. At Hagrid’s house they will have the ride called the Flight of the Hippogriff from the Harry Potter and the Prison of Azkaban. Another ride is the Dragon Challenge from the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The theme park is practically Hogwarts and Hogsmeade built for you to see what it actually looks like instead of imagining. Anyone can really come because Harry Potter lovers can go into Hogwarts. Harry Potter haters can go get candy and get butterbeer at Hogsmeade and stuff themselves. It’s a great experience in the summer and it’s something to do instead of sitting at home watching TV.

Zenyatta vs. Rachel Alexandra; Which Horse Deserves Horse of The Year? By Alexa B.

              Rachel Alexandra vs. Zenyatta       

Which horse deserves Horse of the Year? Some people think Zenyatta, who recently became the first filly ever to win the Breeders Cup Classic, and some people think Rachel Alexandra, who won the Preakness Stakes after 85 years of the boys winning, should win Horse of the Year.  Zenyatta, a beautiful black, five year old filly, is 14-0 this year.  Rachel Alexandra, an attractive three year old bay, is just waiting to race Zenyatta. The two are supposed to race head to head soon. According to Zenyatta’s Jockey Mike Smith, who actually has made appearances on the show Jockeys, “I’ve never gotten to the bottom of her. That’s the amazing thing. When Zenyatta wants to run really fast to win, she runs fast. She was still ninth, seven lengths back, and at the quarter-pole.” He stated. “She didn’t even take a breath after the race was over.”  He said. According to Bob Baffert, if they don’t award Zenyatta with horse of the year, it would be a travesty. They should at least award her with Co-Horse of the year.  According to The Breeder’s Cup Website Zenyatta’s strengths are keeping pace, and not shooting to the front of the pack and losing energy fast. She likes keeping at the back of the pack and not wasting her time and energy. Towards the end of the race, she sneaks up on the pack and comes up around the outside, to win by many strides. In the Fantasy S. (another race) Rachel Alexandra shot to the front of the pack, and stayed there until the end of the race, winning by at least seven strides. So who will win the prestigious award? It’s a tossup between the two contenders. A generous horse enthusiast offered to organize a race-off.  But, unfortunately, both owners said no. Will the owners give in? Which horse will become the most honored filly in history? But what we know for sure:  both these horses will go down in the history books.