MASQUERADE PREVIEW

Jessica Grachek
Staff Writer

As some of you may remember from last year, Student Council held the first Masquerade Ball at North. Last year, according to Student Council, it was a huge success with many great features. “Our first masquerade was well attended last year. Black and White Theme. About 300 people attended. There was professional pictures and punch and candy were offered,” says Student Council Adviser Ms. Olsen. This year Student Council will be having another Masquerade Ball. This Masquerade Ball will have a few similarities as the dance last year as well as a few differences.

*What: 2^nd Masquerade Ball/Dance

*When: Saturday October 30^th from 8-11pm

*Where: School Gymnasium

*Why: To have fun and celebrate Halloween

*Important Details:

-Tickets are $8

-Theme is Royal Ballroom (Queens and Kings to Princes and Princesses)

-NO Halloween Costumes should be worn

-Students MUST have their student IDs in order to enter the dance

Punch and Water will be for sale

Come for a little bit or come for the whole time!!!! Student Council hopes to see you there!! J

A Strong Soul

Are you fat? Are you always complaining about how you look? Better yet, are you always hearing people talking about your weight? So many people get wound up in what people think of them, and for what? When most of what comes out of other peoples mouths are negativity. The victims of such acts start to starve themselves, cutting and even more self-destructing behaviors.

A boy named Josh Stager faces some of those rude comments from time to time. When asked how he deals with such things, he said, "I don't really care, because i'm awesome and i don't even look what i weigh." such high esteem is needed in this world and he has lots. Accoring to Josh, he's been a big guy since as long as he can remember.

For a big guy, he does it all; he sings a lot, he loves to dance a lot of hip-hop, he does a lot a physical labor and he runs and bikes everywhere he goes.

A close friend of his, Eric Fleckner, says, "Josh is a good person and he is one of best friends. It's just a plus that he is plus sized." Everyone can joke around and be happy with Josh's weight. It's one of those things that you have to be happy with yourself as a person and be able to laught at yourself.

Even if you're not comfortable with yourself, know that the only person you can please in life is yourself. You can make yourself happy. You can be like Josh and take pride in how much you weigh or look. You have to take that extra step and make yourself happy. So what do you choose to do.

Uggs the New Trend

(Article and picture by Taylor Carolus)

last year a new trend was started. this trend is ugg boots. last year when people started this trend their as only one kind of ugg boot now there are many different kinds.
they range from plain boots to furry and beaded. people wear them all different ways. on no pants Friday they wear them with leggings and when you go to a football game i guess it's cool to wear them with sweatpants.
these boots are warm fuzzy boots so you think people would wear them only during winter. here at north high that is not the case, i have seen people wear them to the beach. why you would want your foot sweaty and sandy is beyond me but I have seen it.
when i first saw this trend i thought people were crazy.i finally tried a pair on and fell in love. they keep your feet warm in the winter and are very fashionable.
Cassie says," i Love my boots they're awesome." not everyone likes ugg boots. Max says," i think they're crappy."
one of the newest trends is high heeled boots. these boots are expensive. you can buy the real boots at Macy's or you can buy the off brand product at Target.
the stores also have a slipper that is like the ugg boot. maybe this trend will last forever or maybe it will be over soon. No one will know where this trend started.

Sing It Loud, A Band To Never Forget.

Minnesota was the theme Saturday October 9th, 2010. Former Minneapolis band Sing It Loud announced in early September, via myspace, they will no longer continue on together. Saturday was their last show. It was taken place at Station 4 and I had the privilege of attending. I would be crazy not to admit that it was my favorite concert I've been too. The reason is because you felt every emotion that was put on the stage. The night was filled with Minnesota love, Sing It Loud came out on stage and had the entire crowd along with everyone who works with them go "quack, quack, quack, go ducks!" in honor of The Mighty Ducks. They were also back up by Steve Salazar, Jamestown Story, Mod Sun and Take Cover, all Minnesota artists.

If you haven't heard of Sing It Loud, there was something special you missed out on. The former band consists of lead vocals, Pat Brown, lead guitar/vocals, Kieren Smith, Bassist, Nate Flynn, Keyboardist, Ben Peterson and Drummer Chris "Sick boy" Lee. The band first started about three years ago and were signed with Epitaph Records along with MN band Motion City Soundtrack. Josh Cain, MCS, produced their first full length album Come Around which came out September of 2008. You can find artists such as Justin Pierre, MCS, and Alex Gaskarth, All Time Low featured. Their second album Everything Collide came out last May and it has contagious lyrics, beats so memorable you want it stuck in your head. Everything Collide is all Sing It Loud. It is nothing but raw emotions.

The show on Saturday was emotional, exciting and entertaining. They came out and gave no less than 150%. They preformed hits such as Sugar Sweet, Here With You, Addicted To When Your Gone, No One Can Touch Us, Come Around, Best Beating Heart. They also preformed songs they normally don't get the chance to such as, Marionettes, Bite Your Lip,and Kieren Smith's song Shadows.

Throughout the show every band member got a chance to express their gratitude to all their fans, friends and families. Also expressing how much they love Minnesota and how here we in fact have great music that is under appreciated.

Pat Brown came out and started crying and as I looked around everyone was crying and I mean everyone. Going to the concert I did not expect myself to tear up but I couldn't help it. I know a lot of bands are breaking up these days but Sing It Loud has created a community with their music and has made everyone apart of it. They have influenced so many people to do what you love and go after your dreams even if it doesn't last forever. It is always worth it because the people you meet and the people who support you are there forever.

I have been a fan of Sing It Loud since they first started. I have been in the crowd when there were maybe 50 people and on Saturday the show was nearly sold out. I've also got the chance to hang out with the members, mostly bassists Nate Flynn who and the rest of the guys has made me feel like more than a fan. They made me feel like a friend that has been with them on their entire journey. I guarantee they will make you feel the same.

Every show they would take the time out to not just snap a quick picture and sign a piece of paper but to get to know their fans and add them into their lives. I consider myself a better person for getting to know Sing It Loud and I applaud them for not only creating excellent music but for creating a community of people who love music simply because it is music. I thank you Pat, Nate, Kieren, Ben and Sick boy for all you've given.

Taylor does not care about the wild

The Minnesota Wild start there season off on the 14th of Oct. when Taylor was asked about how she thinks they will do she said "i dont reallly care how they do, i am a twins all the why." Taylor wants the twins to do great but does not care for the wild what is up with that. Hopw all you wild fans out there are ok with that. Taylor also had this to say " gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo twinsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss."

It's Kind of a Funny Story

The Mall of America theaters previewed It’s Kind of a Funny Story on Tuesday October 6, 2010. It was a waste of my time driving 30 minutes to go see. The title of the story needs to be changed because there is nothing funny about suicide.

This movie is partly autobiographical. It’s Kind of a Funny Story tries to touch an emotional connection to teen alienation that it sometimes grasps and just as often doesn’t.

Keir Gilchrist plays Craig (main character), a high schooler who is contemplating suicide. He decides to check himself into a mental ward. Craig is notified that he just can’t check himself out when he wants to leave. He is where he meets Bobby (Zach Galifiarakis), a buffoonish intermittent lifer.

The film fails to sustain its wild momentum and instead settles for trivial teen clichés about sex and rivalries. Some of the audience in the theater was falling asleep during the movie. All in all, It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a must not see movie.

The College Life.

Matthew Thao, 17, senior, is doing his full time P.S.E.O. at Century College. Matt is enjoying his college life so far and says that “it’s relaxing, really easy but the exams are hard but classes are easy and it’s kind of like high school.”

As we all know high school is a preparation for you to get ready for the real deal out there and college is just another step for your future. And in many ways high school and college is different. Matthew tells me that high school and college are different because for college you get to pick your schedules and the hours ranges differently, there for we have a five minute break in each class but as for the college students gets a range of 10 minutes to 3-4 hours of a break.

“High school is where you create memories,” quoted Matt. Matt tells me that he definitely misses North, and the weight room, school clubs, teachers, students, especially the school lunch but basically everything about north he says he misses. One thing he likes about Century he likes is that you don’t have to go to one of his classes until 11 o’clock, classes and hours are flexible and you can use your own laptop and go on facebook without your teachers seeing what you’re doing. Matt does plan to finish all his generals at century because it’s cheap and it’s easy to transfer also.

Although being a full time P.S.E.O. student is great especially if you’re really looking into finishing with your generals early, Matt plans to come back to North and be a student here and still be a full time P.S.E.O. student because it all fits into his schedule. But he also prefers high school over college, “honestly I prefer high school, high school is the years you get to have fun, and life experiences. But the number one reason why I would go back is the weight room.” Said Matt.

(photo by Matt Thao, Article by Kaoly Khang)

Entering Blogs Via Text Messages

This is Christlo's on his phone testing the "send blog by txt" feature on Blogger.com

Tartan In North High's Show Choir

Show Choir, in general, is a group of 20-40+ kids (or adults in rare cases) that sing and dance in competitions and some schools do it for fun to perform in front of their whole school.

North High has a Show Choir by the name of The Northern Lights which is one of the most highest ranking award winning activities at North High School. There are now Tartan High kids in North High's show choir. The rivalry with the two school might be over in the music field at least.

The decision went about because "we have such a good show this year and I feel that having them join us fits our show theme this year and I think that it'll just be such a wonderful show," said Mrs. Sorenson. The Northern Lights Show Choir theme this year is One World and they're having a Spagetti Dinner on January 8 to fundraise money for competition season. The cost is $10 a person and the food is wonderful. This year should be a great one for North High's Northern Lights.

North High's Masterworks Concert Coming Soon

North High School often rivals Tartan High School. But once a year, the two schools come together in choir.

North High is holding a masterworks concert in November. They are singing "Missa Brevis in G Major KV 49" by Mozart. The concert usually lasts about 30 minutes with vocal performances and a volunteer orchestra.

Peg Sorensen, the choir director at North, says its her favorite concert of the year. She says, "I love to see the students having a great time performing with the orchestra!"

Choir students like the idea of performing with Tartan students. Christlo Gittens, senior at North, says "I love the combination of voices between the two choirs and seeing my friends I don't get to see every day."

Masterworks Concert is an amazing thing to see. It is a great way to see two amazing groups come together and do something amazing.

A Blast of Acts

We all know that hyped up entertaining event that comes within every school year that gets all of North High School’s (NHS) students and staffs excited. National Honor Society proudly presents, Coffee House Acts!

Previous performers were able to share their stories about performing for this fired up event. Let’s see what they have to say.

“I want to encourage all the students and staffs at NHS, for them to know that they shouldn’t give up.” Blongsha Hang said. He is currently a junior at NHS and collaborated with fellow junior classmate Jessica Yang at Coffee House Acts 2010. Yang exclaimed, “Working with Sha was awesome. We were able to write our own song that could hopefully give hope and courage to the school through our voices and music.” Hang and Yang were chosen as the opening act of Coffee House Acts 2010. Both Hang and Yang are looking forward to seeing something more creative than just singing and dancing at the upcoming Coffee House Acts.

The performances weren’t just acts, they also carried side stories. Ae Vue, a graduate of NHS, shared his experiences of Coffee House Acts. “I didn’t know what was going on. I just auditioned, got in, and winged it pretty much. Right before I was going to get on stage, I was super nervous, but it seems like it turned out better than I thought.” Vue said proudly. Vue received a standing ovation on his performances and brought something new to the table that all of NHS has never seen. Vue explains, “I wanted to leave my own mark before I graduated. So I decided that Coffee House Acts would be a good target.”

Hang, Yang and Vue were not the only performers of this event. There were many great performers that showed up the past few years that continued to add more energy to the show, such as the following: Krystin Lillie, Cicily Kong, Taylor Hanson, Rest for the Weary, The Mathew Barrens Project, To Be Announced and many more.

Coffee House Acts has been very successful in the past years. Each year, more and more people look forward to this exciting event. For the time being, we will have to wait and see what Coffee House Acts 2011 will have in store for us. Will it be the same as last year or will it be presented on another level? Stay tuned!

(Videos recorded by Montoya Lor)

*Type Coffee House Acts North High School on Youtube for more videos!

Farley In France

(Picture by Taylor Carolus)

This July Joe Farley won a ten day trip to France. he went with one hundred seventy other students from around the world and it made a great impact on him and how he sees the world.
Farley won this trip in a photo contest. the trip was through a french embassy in Chicago. FFarley had to submit five photos based on five french words.
when i asked him his favorite part of the entire trip Farley said," meeting all the different people." when he says different its because only five of the kids were from North America. Farley said," It was hard keeping up with my French."
FFarley said he would love to go to FFrance again its a great experience and his favorite city in the world is Paris. when i asked his favorite food it took him awhile to answer because he ate so many but finally said," Crocque-madame." This you eat in the late morning or for lunch.

How Do People Feel About Their Freshmen Year?

"For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen"
That's the chorus of the song "The Freshmen" by The Vereve Pipe. Though I believe it's about being a Freshmen in college and hitting someone with your car, it's the song that makes me think about my Freshmen year, even though I'm only a Junior. My Freshmen year was spent somewhere between a laugh and a sob. I realize now that when i was a Sophomore I was hating on the Freshmen more and more.
Everybody remembers Pep-Fest, Freshmen always get booed. But it made me wonder how did they feel about it?
"It (Freshmen year) was interesting," says Alex Longueville ('13) "It's so unique...You're the older kids in middle school and then you come here and you're the youngest...But personally I loved it." Montoya Lor ('12) also responds positively saying, "I was more encouraged than bullied."
But not all feedback was positive. "(Freshmen year was) Kind of suck-y," Kaylie E-B ('13) says simpley. "Except for when I went to C.A.R.E." She laughs. "Freshmen year was horrible!" exclaims senior Josh Stager, "It cause me to be Emo."
Overall I suppose that everyone's Freshmen year is unique and special and can't be generalized in a simple sentence. To the Freshmen of 2010/2011, I hope you enjoy it, It's the only one you get!

Homecoming Week 2- The power of text messaging

"Next week is senior homecoming week 2, Monday sports day, tuesday tie-dye, wednesday is white out, thursday black out and friday is spirit day, pass it on. " A bunch of seniors got this text message on Friday September 24Th. This was mainly planned because many people didn't think the original homecoming was as amazing as it should of been.

"Just cause the first week of homecoming wasn't as awesome as it was supposed to be" Nyakondo said. The mastermind behind all this is senior Joe Lewis, "I planned this for fun and because we are totally going to destroy Saint Thomas! "Lewis said sarcastically

The plan to create a homecoming week 2 succeeded. " Yeah i noticed that something was up especially on tie-dye day." Yang said. The score versus Saint Thomas ended up being 41 Saint Thomas to 10 Polars.

Overall the text message which was received by 3/5Th's of the high school seniors was an amazing statement on the power of text messaging.

Skinny’s Take Over

Many of you have noticed people wearing them. Many of you even wear them! Some people don’t like them, and some people absolutely love them!

Last year, a student named Seth Chamlee, went to school one day wearing his skinny jeans, and was promptly sent home by the school administrators of Kimbrough Middle School in Mesquite Texas.

It is no surprise all that that over the last couple of years, skinny jeans for guys have really taken off! Everywhere you look, there is bound to be a guy rocking some skinny jeans.

Skinny jeans, in the last couple of years, started becoming a fad due to many stars, like Tom Cruise wearing. One of the most influential groups to really get the fad going were the New Boyz.

The New Boyz where nothing but skinny jeans and bright colors. Their hit debut single “You’re a

“You’re a Jerk” by New Boyz

Jerk” really showcased them wearing their skinny’s and really bright colors. Everyone in the music video is literally wearing skinny jeans’ no one in the video is seen wearing baggy jeans or anything else.

Many people have started debating if it is really right for guys to wear skinny jeans. Here in Minnesota, we have no problems against skinny jeans, but others say that it could pose a modesty problem especially when wore really tightly.

The skinny jeans look isn’t all that easy to pull of either. Guys must wear tight fit shirts, sometimes brightly colored, and shoes like Vans Era.

A spokeswoman for Kimbrough Middle said that pants “should be appropriately sized” otherwise they pose to be a distraction in a learning environment. Especially when guys decide to wear super skinny jeans.

One problem with skinny jeans, especially on guys is that allow for less movement. Jean companies like Levi Strauss & Co. and True Religion decided to take the initiative to manufacture skinny jeans especially for men. As of July 26th of last year, skinny jeans account for 15% of jeans True Religion sells.

When worn, skinny jeans also have the potential to be pretty painful especially if you try to cross your legs.

Ondre Lo, a Senior at North High, simply said “No” when asked what he thought about skinny jeans.

Jay-Z, a rapper, in his song D.O.A.: Death of Auto-tune, says "You boys jeans too tight, you colors too bright, your voice too light." showing his dislike for skinny jeans. He also says "no one on the corner, got a bop like this, don't wear skinny jeans, 'cause my knots won't fit." in the song Swagga Like Us, asserting that skinny jeans are really too tight for guys.

Many people would say yes, but the question still remains, should guys wear skinny jeans? and also why do guys wear skinny jeans?