by ALLIE FLAUGHER

Everyone loves vacations. Vacations are the one main thing that I look forward to every year. My family and I usually take one trip a year over the summer. We usually go someplace that has a beach. Beaches are my favorite places to go.

My favorite place that I have ever been on vacation was California. We went the summer before my sophomore year. We flew into San Francisco and then rented a car and started our long drive to Los Angeles. We stayed in downtown Hollywood for two nights. I think that Hollywood was the neatest place that I have ever been. There was so much to do and see. My favorite thing was when we took a tour of Warner Brothers Studios. We got to see some of the sets of movies and TV shows like Friends. After we left Los Angeles, we drove north toward Yosemite National Park. It was so pretty, but there was not that much to do there. However, it was really relaxing. We stayed there for 3 nights in a cabin in the park. After that, we made our way back to San Francisco. Here we went to Fisherman’s Wharf, and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge. We also went on a tour of Alcatraz. The weather in San Francisco was kind of cold, which we weren’t really expecting, but it was all together an amazing vacation!

This past summer my family and I went on vacation to Gulf Shores, Alabama. Last summer was when the BP had taken over many of the beaches/oceans in that area. We were nervous about what that would do to our vacation, but we decided to go anyway. When we got down there, we could not find any oil anywhere. They had workers on the beaches by our condo, but they said that they had not really been finding too much. The oceans looked crystal clear, and the sand was soft and white. Finally on the last day of our trip, the oil had reached the beach that we were staying at. It was not really visible, but if someone walked on the sand, they would find some black tar on their feet. Thankfully though, we still had a great vacation and still got to enjoy ourselves.

Last summer I also got to go on a cruise with one of my friends. We went Royal Caribbean’s Eastern Caribbean Cruise. Our ship was called the Oasis of the Seas, which was the newest, and biggest ship ever made. It was so awesome and I had so much fun! The ship took us to the Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. The ship itself was so fun! There were so many different restaurants to choose to eat from, and there were 4 different pools to swim in. When we got off of our ship at the island of St. Thomas, we went snorkeling with sea turtles. This was the neatest thing I think I have ever done in my life. We got on a small boat and they took us way out in the ocean to a cove. We jumped off of the boat and just looked around at the sea turtles that swam right under, and next to us. The coral reef that was there was also so pretty. When I got back and told my family all about it, they wanted to plan a cruise for us for next summer.

My dream vacation would be to go to Australia. It looks so pretty, and it looks like it would be so much fun. The beaches look so pretty and there is so much to do there. Another place that I would really like to visit is Hawaii. The beaches there look so beautiful, and I think that it would be really fun to visit the volcanoes and Pearl Harbor. Hopefully one day I will get to go visit these places!

by LINDSAY GRIFFITH

Oh, what a wonderful time of the year! As we look around our communities, malls, and schools we see all the Christmas decorations come alive. All the malls are jammed packed with crazy Christmas shoppers. The scent of fresh baked cookies filled the homes. The Christmas music songs get stuck in our heads. The TV channels are booked up with Christmas movies and shows, one for the most famous, A Christmas Story. The smoke exits the chimney from the burning logs that are keeping the house warm. The arrival of St. Nick gives the kids just a little preview before Christmas. All the little children run to the windows as they see the first snowfall of winter. All of the teenagers have their noses buried in the books studying for their final exams before the Christmas break. Of course, at this time we are also preparing for the coming of Christ. The time from after Thanksgiving until New Year is filled with craziness and confusion. My favorite time of the year is the Christmas Season. I love the jolliness it brings to everyone around the world.

Christmas is an exciting time, but it also brings on a lot of stress. Putting up Christmas trees and lights is part of the season, but it is a lot of work and takes up a lot of time to get the house feeling festive. Besides doing all of those things, one also has to shop from Christmas presents. With the economy the way it is today, that is not always such an easy thing to do. One has to watch the ads for coupons that could help keep the cost to the minimum. One also has to worry about buying every person on your list the right gifts. So, even though Christmas brings a lot of joy, it is also crammed with madness.

It is not only crazy for adults, but it also brings on a lot off added stress to teenagers. Most teenagers have jobs on top of sports and school, and at their jobs they will be worked harder, and will most likely have to work overtime, and may even have to work over the holidays. Before Christmas break, students have to spend a lot of time studying for final exams that will end the first semester. Exams are always stressful because the students want to do well on them, but they sometimes cannot find a lot of time to study, with everything else going on.  But once those exams are over, it is one the greatest feeling ever. Now, all a teen has to worry about is relaxing on a nice long, well deserved break from school. Even though the Christmas season is very busy and hectic, it also comes with a lot of enjoyment and excitement. Merry Christmas!

by DAVID BRAUN

Every year countless numbers of people go shopping to find Christmas gifts for their families and friends.  Those who are serious about finding bargains always get up early or even stay up all night to get good deals on merchandise they want.  The craziest day of them all is Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.  Shoppers stand in lines for hours, run around stores like lunatics, and beat the living daylights out of each other to get what they want.

There are also those people who find this spectacle quite comical and get up early just to experience the event.  For the past two years, I’ve gone out in the early morning hours of Black Friday and watched the hysteria unfold.  I’ve gone to Walmart both years, and the best way to describe the situation there is out of control.  As soon as I pulled into the parking lot this year, I knew I was in for a treat.  Nearly every parking spot was taken, but I managed to find one.  Upon entering the store I witnessed chaos in the form of sleep-deprived, battle-ready, warriors of the aisle ways.  Yes, I’m referring to those brave shoppers who put their lives on the line to save some extra cash during the holiday season.  I learned that the situation inside some stores really does get quite intense.  I saw people racing each other to get what they wanted and even fighting over products.  If you don’t believe me you should go see for yourself!

There are stores like Walmart where you’re likely to find death and destruction, and then there are stores like Best Buy where the madness is far more controlled.  I went to Best Buy last year to find a line wrapped around the outer perimeter of the building.  Some people came prepared with lawn chairs, fire pits, and even grills.  At a store like this, your place in line is more important than your survival skills.  Store workers came around and handed out certificates, granting the holder the rights to purchase a designated item.  This way people knew if they were going to be able to get what they came for before they even entered the store.  As far as I could tell, only a certain number of people were allowed into the store at a time, which kept things quite peaceful, for the most part.

If you plan on being part of the Black Friday madness next year, or any time in the future, I would definitely recommend getting an early start to your night for the best results.  If you plan on simply watching the insanity, then enjoy it because it’s quite a scene, but if you plan on attempting to shop, good luck and may God have mercy on your soul.

by LINDSAY GRIFFITH

At the beginning of every school year all the teacher have to tell their students the procedures for fire, tornado, and earthquake drill, so that on random days, the alarms sound, and the students know what to do. Most students play the drills off as a joke and take the time to catch up with friends and goof off. When the alarms sound,  students jump up with joy because they know it is just a practice drill; therefore, it shortens the class period. Even though it only takes a few minutes to run the drill, the little time not spent sitting in desk listening to boring material that will never come up again on our lives, is better than nothing. Students think that a natural disaster will never actually hit the small, quaint town of Alexandria, Kentucky.

Well, all of us were proven wrong on October 26, 2010. To me, it was one of the scariest school days I have ever experienced. A voice came on over the intercom telling the teachers to not use the projectors in case the storm hits like the weather men are saying.  So, in anatomy Mrs. Khols had to hand write the notes on the white bored because all of the notes were on her computer, and she was unable to use the projector.

I looked out the window and noticed the sky had turned from sky blue to black. The trees were blowing every which way, and roofs were starting to blow off. Nothing more was said in that period, so the normal school bell rang and we switched periods. As soon as we got into G period the lights went out and everyone went into panic mode. I was in a room without any windows, so it was pitch black and scary.

Mr. Grosser came to our room and said we had to move to a room with windows.  So, when we got into a different room, we heard a weird siren coming from outside. At that moment Mr. Stewart came around to all the rooms and told us that we had to get under our desks because a tornado warning was issued.

At this point, everyone really started to freak out because we did not know what was really going on, and if we were even going to make it out of school alive. This just shows that we, as students, should take drills more serious because we never know when we will need to use the safety drills in order to save our lives.

by CARMEN ENZWEILER

The annual turkey bowl is coming up this Friday.  This year we did not have as much time to collect all the items, so most classes felt crunched by the fact that they only had a short time to bring in all their supplies and obtain their maximum amount of roles.  It is nice to help out all the people who need these things for Thanksgiving while making it fun and enjoyable at the same time.  When our school collects the majority of items we need, we should all feel a sense of accomplishment and pride that we are doing such a good thing for people who need it so badly.

This year will be a little different because for the first time ever the seniors will not automatically win or be helped out in any way.  In previous years, they were usually the only ones who had all their roles but somehow never seemed to be able to bring home the win on their own.  They always received a little extra boost from the people who set up the pins and the ones who kept score.  We took our time being the underclassmen, and, despite beating the seniors some of those years, took the loss.  Well, this year, since we are seniors now and nobody really likes us, they decided to change the rules.  Go figure.  However, we will still win.

Another exciting thing about the turkey bowl is the teacher vs. faculty member obstacle course. This is when one female and one male senior team up against a female and male faculty member in a crazy student council0designed obstacle course full of random tasks from riding across the gym on tiny tricycles to finding something in a haystack to putting make up on the males.  The faculty members are usually the new kids on the block.  So, the female faculty member is guaranteed to be the upbeat Mrs. Greely, who is  sure to put up a good fight.  But what about the male faculty member? Who will that be?  I guess only time will tell who the lucky faculty member that will have to lose to the seniors will be.  And teachers, do not even try cheating, because we seniors will win anyways.

by JAKE BERTRAM

College basketball has finally started. It’s my favorite time of year. Last year the University of Kentucky came up short, losing to West Virginia. I still am questioning how it even happened. They had five first round draft picks, four of which were freshman. That boggles my mind even more; I can’t help but wonder what those guys would have been like as seniors, or even as sophomores or juniors.

This year’s team should be okay as well. There’s not as much talent it seems, but they are still the number one class of freshman. The preseason polls have them ranked a lot higher than I expected. That brings me to one of my main concerns: Calipari. The man can recruit – that’s a given. But what he can’t do is recruit more than two year players that have more than three stars on rivals. Right now he hasn’t even gotten two year players with three stars. That worries me.

Other fans seem to have no problem with it. Some say that the University of Kentucky doesn’t rebuild, it reloads. That’s fine and dandy at the present, but after a few years it’s not going to be that easy. Given next year he’s already signed about four players that could have five stars on rivals,  I want three and four year players. They are the ones that can build programs, show leadership, and bring in other recruits. I will say I did enjoy watching John wall, Eric Bledsoe, and Demarcus Cousins for the time they were here, and I will say even though Boogie was here for one year he is in my book as one of my favorite players.  All the others are three or four year players except Rajon Rondo.

This year’s team will most likely use the dribble drive offense which will make for exciting games if they can make lay ups or kick it out and hit the three ball.  If not, I’m sure coach Cal will make some changes. Last year’s team averaged a height of I think 6’8’’, which was the highest in all of college basketball. Enes Kanter is an incoming freshman that’s incredibly talented, so were told; he has yet to practice for coach Cal and the Wildcats. The NCAA is working diligently to clear him. This isn’t just big for Kentucky, but for all foreigners that come to the United States looking to play sports in college.

Without Kanter, the center position will be in trouble, I think. Although Josh Harrelson has been here for three years, he’s not the best and he and Cal have had their differences and are not the best of friends. Eloy Vargas, another big man, could use some improvements as well. His dad recently passed away, so basketball isn’t his biggest priority right now and rightfully so.

I’m excited for the season, which tips off November 12. Go Cats. And as always, keep on truckin’.

by ALLIE FLAUGHER

Taylor Swift is one of my favorite singers. Last Monday on October 25, her new CD, Speak Now (Amazon, iTunes), came out. This album has so many good songs including “Mine,” “Sparks Fly,” “Back to December,” “Speak Now,” “Dear John,” “Mean,” “The Story of Us,” “Never Grow Up,” “Enchanted,” “Better than Revenge,” “Innocent,” “Haunted,” “Last Kiss,” and “Long Live.”

My personal favorite song form this album is called “Sparks Fly.” A very popular song on this album is “Dear John,” which she wrote about John Mayer, whom she dated just last year, while they were recording the song “Half of my Heart.” However, they broke up, and this song talks about how he was mean to her.

Taylor Swift learned to play guitar and started writing songs when she was twelve years-old. In 2006, she came out with her debut single, “Tim McGraw.” This same year, at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, she was nominated for best new artist. Her second album, Fearless, was released in November 2008. This album earned her four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. The album topped the Billboard 200 for 11, nonconsecutive weeks. In 2009, she was named artist of the year. In 2008, Swift sold four million copies for both albums. Billboard ranked her the 38th Best Artist of the 2000-10 decade.

Her style of writing songs is very unique. She claims that her songs are autobiographical, and that her songs are like reading her diary. She also writes writes songs that her fans can relate to. For example, her song “Fifteen,” which is feartured on Fearless is about her freshman year of high school. Almost anyone can relate to this. It starts off talking about her first day, and then it goes on to talk about how her life changes throughout the year, and some of the new people that she met.

Her newest album, Speak Now, has so many great songs on it. The songs of this album talk about old boyfriends, feeling bad for breaking up with a guy that she dated, never growing up, and she even talks about Kanye West, and the incedent at the 2008 MTV Music Video Awards. When Swift was giving her acceptance speech for winning Best Female Music Video, West went up on stage and took the microphone from her. He then announced that Beyonce should have won the award for her hit song “Single Ladies.”

The album is already off to a great start. It has already sold over one million copies within its first week out, and I’m sure that it will continue to sell many more.

by SARAH HAMM

This past weekend, November 5th, 6th, and 7^th, the Bishop Brossart High School Drama Club performed the well written play called You Can’t Take It With You.  The comedy was written by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman.  It is about a young couple who fall in love, but the two lovers realize that each other’s families are completely different.  Alice Sycamore, played by sophomore Jessica Gerner, is surrounded by crazy family members that do what they want when they want to.  The Sycamore house never stops.  Contributing to this nonstop momentum is Alice’s father, Paul Sycamore, played by junior Eric Walz, who is always trying out new fireworks in the basement; Mrs. Sycamore, Alice’s mother, played by Mary Kay Reilly, who is constantly caught up in writing her plays;  Alice’s grandpa, senior Ryan Beck, who is going out in the wee morning hours; and her sister, sophomore Kaitlyn Sansom, who is constantly dancing with her Russian dancing teacher, played by junior Craig Schutzman.

On the other hand, Alice’s future husband, Tony Kirby, Jr.’s, senior Steven Geiger, parents are very uptight, strict, and judging. Also in the play: a worker in Wall Street, her father, played by Aaron Mardis, and his mother, whose profession is not clearly stated, played by yours truly, Sarah Hamm.  The two families meet on an unexpected night when Tony mixes up the night with the actual dinner date.  After a harmless word game gone wrong, the Kirbys plan to leave when they get stopped at the door by the police.  The authorities arrive to question Essie’s husband, played by Adam Carr, about suspicious candy deliveries.  The chaos ends with everyone at the Sycamore house being put in jail and spending the rest of their night there.  The play ends on a happy note, though, when the two families come together for another dinner party.  Directed by Ms. Bradley, this story takes a twist on the classic Shakespearean story Romeo and Juliet.

by CHAD VERST

Music is a big part of our society today. There is a way to listen to music wherever you are, whether that’s on the go with an iPod or on the computer with Youtube. If you are like me then you probably have a different band you listen to every week.

I like listening to a different band every week so I can truly appreciate the music I am listening to. Too many times have there been good songs on the radio where you listen to it so much, that you begin not to like it at all. Or when you listen to the same song over and over on your iPod because you think it’s so awesome, and then it just becomes average since you have heard it so many times. The death of a song is tied directly to being overplayed. Which is why it’s good to vary your music up every once in a while.

Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Rise Against, Taking Back Sunday, and Senses Fail. I listen to Rise Against pretty regularly because I like literally every one of their songs. If I had to pick I would probably say they are my favorite band, Rise Against never gets old.

Taking Back Sunday is a band I have known about for a while but have just recently begun listening to a lot. I knew them for their song “A Decade Under the Influence” but from listening to them more I found out I actually like pretty many of their songs. It’s pretty cool when you know one good song by a band and later find out that you like them a lot more than just for that one song. I know this has happened to me a couple times.

Senses Fail is a band that I like but is definitely not my favorite. It’s just another band this week that I happen to be listening to. These are pretty much the three bands I have been listening to for the past two weeks.

Next week I plan on listening to Saosin, Anberlin, and Blink 182. It’ll be about that time to switch things up. I encourage you to try to switch your music up every once in a while, maybe a different type of music or just a different band. Who knows, maybe you will find a new favorite band, in the very least you will be able to appreciate your music that much more.

by DAVID BRAUN

Once again it’s election time, which means it’s time to be bombarded by political ads of all shapes and sizes. One particular technique that’s extremely popular in the world of politics is called mudslinging. Mudslinging is when politicians choose to direct the focus away from themselves and point the finger at their opponents. Most politicians and their supporters spend a great deal of time and money bashing their opponents’ reputations instead of discussing what they stand for.

I would personally prefer to hear less about the other guy’s problems and more about why I should elect a certain politician to office. I believe that mudslinging ads are an unreliable source of information and should be pushed aside when choosing who to vote for.

Mudslinging has gotten out of control and even comical at times. One case that has received some national attention this year comes straight out of Northern Kentucky. That’s right, Campbell County’s race between Steve Franzen and Jim Daley has made headlines on MTV, VH1, and multiple other news sources because of fliers that were distributed by Daley.

One side of the flier claims that Franzen has defended numerous criminals charged with child pornography, drug trafficking, assaults on police officers, and other crimes. The other side of the flier states, “On November 2 tell Steve Franzen you don’t trust someone who makes a living defending criminals to serve as your County Attorney.”

It’s not the comments on the flier that are turning heads, though, but rather the pictures that go along with the comments. The flier wouldn’t have been complete without pictures of some nasty criminals, so photos showing members of the bands Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed, and Stone Sour were slapped on there to scare voters away from Franzen.

The idea to use popular celebrities on a campaign flier was obviously not well thought out in this situation. While pictures of these bands may scare a few adults, many others are curious as to why famous musicians are on a flier that refers to criminals. The faithful followers of these bands are outraged that their idols have been depicted as criminals, which can’t be good for Daley’s campaign. To top things off, the pictures were used without permission, so Daley could be in for a few legal problems. Jim Daley’s flier folly just goes to show that politicians would be better off if they simply avoided mudslinging.