NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011

Holidays edition

LETTITORS (LETTERS FROM THE EDITORS)

Shops are putting up decorations and playing that holly jolly music (even though this usually begins on November 1st when Halloween festivities end). Kids can seen crying on the laps of Santas and can-­dy cane ice cream is available for purchase.

In recent years, I have been compared to the Grinch by friends. When I grimace, I highly resem-­ble him. I have massive feet, thus I often have shoes that are too tight;; I have some crazy tenden-­

Nicholas Sparks novels such as Walk to Remember and The Notebook without shedding a tear, so this gives me reason to believe I have a heart two sizes too small. Also, to be honest, I find the holidays to be a bit of a drag. Since grade seven, Christ-­

of family, I come from a very small family. The family member closest to me in age

this sort of family gathering. Additionally, like the

have termites in my smile, but I do currently have 10 cavities despite brushing my teeth daily (this is why you

holiday season, I will be spending my time at the dentist getting them filled. However, the holidays are not all

ticed) of things you can do to increase holiday cheer and make the heart of even the Grinch-­iest person grow.

at a Broadway production level, but they are usually a pretty good laugh and/or a heartwarming tale (I was in some from ages 6-­10, so I like to go and show my support)

Find and listen to good Christmas music. A little known fact Arcade Fire has a Christmas album, download it. (See our playlist for more options.)

Watch good Christmas movies. (Emily and I both recommend National

Ask family members to make donations in your name for Christmas presents.

also got a tiny plush tiger that I still have to this day.

Visit your local thrift store and pick up a holiday sweater. I know Val-­

This includes educating yourself on Kwanzaa and Hannukah. This one is especially applicable

Take in as many TV specials as possible. My favourite: Saturday Night Live, the OC and of course, Charlie Brown.

Go skating. I played hockey for three years and figure skated prior to that, so

Attend the Advent Service. come check it out.

Make a gingerbread house or Pillsbury cookies. ple, you probably like or maybe even love food. The holidays are a great time food-­wise and these are two of the crème de la crème of holiday food in my opinion.

We wish you a Merry (Non-­Consumer) Christmas

By: E. Scrooge

The time of Christmas brings to mind visions of sugar plums, stockings and St.

Christmastime has become the busiest commercial time of the year. A British study by Theos found that 51 percent of people felt that the actual birth of Jesus was irrelevant to their own Christmas celebrations. To combat this, Christmas traditionalist movements have emerged. Notably, the Canadian Mennonites cre-­ated This movement rejects the over-­consumption of Christmas and focuses on a smaller, simpler, more generous cel-­ebration. Their site offers many ideas of alternative gifts such as cookie exchang-­es, handmade calendars, artwork, coupons and plants. This day is in close affilia-­

idea, only for one day in November. As a member of a non-­practicing Christian family, the religious aspect of this holiday bears little importance to me. Howev-­er, the ideas of community, family, friends and charity are what I most value during this season. My own household traditions are comforting, the atmosphere is warm and it is wonderful to have one relatively stress-­free day spent together

made gifts this holiday season. I welcome you all to do this as well. The following is a list of ideas to get you started in you DIY Holi-­day gifts:

homemade spicy hot chocolate mix (cocoa, cay-­enne, sugar)

handmade knitwear

friendship bracelets

re-­gifted books

original poem/song

homemade soap

recycled paper bead bracelet

personalized calendar

Ingredients: 1/2 cup molasses 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup white sugar 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1 pinch ground cloves 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1 egg 3 cups all-­purpose flour

Directions:

1)In a double boiler over medium heat, mix the molasses, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Stir occasionally, and heat until the mixture is smooth and the sugars are all dissolved.

2) Remove the molasses mixture from the heat, and stir in the baking soda. Let it cool.

3) In a large bowl, beat the butter until it's soft and creamy. Add the molasses mixture and stir until it's well blended.

4) Add the egg and stir until it's well blended.

5) Add the flour one cup at a time, stirring until the mixture is just smooth each time. Don't over-­mix.

6) Shape the dough into a thick disk and wrap it in plastic wrap or wax paper. Refrig-­erate it for about 2 hours.

7) Preheat the oven to 350F.

8) On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out the cookies using cookie cutters.

9) Bake the cookies in the preheated oven on an ungreased baking sheet for 12 to 15 minutes.

10) Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack.

HOLIDAY SONGS

Best Coast & Wavves -­ Got Something For You

This song is rad, especially since Best Coast and Wavves are two of my favourite bands

cool to see them collaborating in a lo-­fi surf rock Christmas tune;; they also have other

Other good songs by these artists: The Sun Was High (So Was I), Our Deal by Best Coast;; Green Eyes, Post Acid, Baseball Cards by Wavves.

Local Natives We Come Back

-­folk sound. By the makers of Gorilla Manor (which you should all listen to).

Other good songs by Local Natives: Who Knows Who Cares, Wide Eyes, Shape Shifter.

Julian Casablancas I Wish it was Christmas Today

This song is written and sung by the lead singer of The Strokes, and the bonus track on his solo album 11th Dimension which came

corporates the theme of Christmas into his style of electronic-­rock shown on 11th Dimension.

Other good songs by Julian Casablancas: 11th Dimension, 4 Chords of the Apocalypse, EVERY-­THING by The Strokes

The Bones of Winter Said the Whale

From their West Coast Christmas EP, The Bones of Winter has good tune. Said the Whale is from Vancouver BC, and this song in particular goes along fine with the

Other good songs by Said The Whale: Curse of the Currents, Camilo (The Magician)

Happy Christmas (War is Over) John Lennon

Of course, a post-­ peace campaign led by John and Yoko, it was also written by them.

Other good songs by John Lennon: Imagine, everything by The Beatles

Is It Christmas-­ The Wombats

This adorable English band made, in my opinion, a perfect Christmas song for this genre. With minor hints of sleigh bells but not too elaborate, the guitar riffs and drums are more pronounced which is great, just like in their other brit-­rock tunes.

-­ The Killers

looking. But seriously, this song is great and so is the

over and over again. (also the director of the music video is none other than ALDO model/Criminial Minds cutie Matthew Gray Gubler)

Mind, When You Were Young

(TIPS ON BEING MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY

CONSCIOUS THIS HOLIDAY SEA-­SON)

1. Buy a local organically grown tree (sold by Ecol-­ogy Action Centre). 2. Recycle your tree appropriately. 3. Use LED lights. 4. Do not leave Christmas tree lights turned on 5. Avoid the use of disposable plates, cups, cut-­lery, etc. 6. Replace wrapping paper with newspaper. 7. Avoid purchasing items that are packaged in ex-­cessive amounts of plastic. 8. Think second hand do not be afraid to regift unused items.

homemade gifts from the heart. 10. As winter proceeds, grab another sweater in-­stead of cranking the heat.

International Student of the Month:

Alejandro Arena Dominquez Grade 9 Fountain Academy

Interviewed and Written by: Caraid McGinty and Razan Al-­Sarkawi

Q: Where are you from?

Leon Mexico

Q: Do you like school?

A: Yes.

Q: What would be your secret super power?

A: To fly.

A: Christmas.

Q: What clubs are you in?

A: I was on the soccer team. I play defense and mid field.

Q: What do you miss?

A: My friends and especially the food!

A: Food.

Q: What are you most afraid of?

A: Heights.

Q: Who can you rely on?

A: My family.

Q: What do you like about Fountain Academy?

love my homestay family. So school gets 9/10 and my homestay family gets a 10 out of 10!

Q: What bugs you?

A: Nothing!

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: To own my own company.

It happens to the best of us. Just found out you have a usage exam tomorrow? Trying to figure out what Prussia even is? Just stay awake and study. You can sleep after you become some-­

freelance astronaut.

daytime, you will feel lame about going to sleep. 2. Do not drink coffee or energy drinks. This will decrease your productivity because you will spend

having a heart attack.

your room is cozy. Make it as uncomfortable as possible by lowering the temperature to between 0-­be sure to stay awake. 4. Drink hot chocolate. Because your room will be cold, hot chocolate can make it bearable by providing you with some comfort so you hit a happy medium of frostbite and burnt tongue. 5. Keep your uniform on. This is the best trick. If you want a sure-­fire way to ensure you WILL complete your homework, keep your uniform on until you are finished. As soon as you

to slack. It is not.

Written by: Sheldon Conk

WHEN YOU WERE IN HIGH SCHOOL

Name of High School: Queen Elizabeth High School

Favourite song: The Sign(Ace of Base) Total Eclipse of the Heart(Nicki French) Favourite movie: Pulp Fiction

Favourite class: Phys. Ed and Global Geography

Celebrity crush: Ryan Higgs

Hairstyle of the time:

Most embarrassing style moment: Blue and lime green plaid pants with a matching argyle sweater vest

First part time job:

Dream job at the time: Travel Columnist (Photographer)

MISPRINT:

Chicken when in reality it was Social AC-­TION. However, Social Chicken sounds like a

the youngest person in Nova Scotia to have my falconry license. I am in a two-­year training pro-­gram with my father as a teacher for my appren-­tice Falconry license. I have been working with raptors since I was 4 years old. I have many years of experience and I hope to make a career out of it. My father and I have 3 birds: two Red-­Tailed hawks (which are indigenous to Nova Scotia) and one Harris hawk (which is indigenous to Arizona and desert areas. I am also a volunteer at the Hope For Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Sea-­forth. Recently, my father and I have been work-­ing on an Eagle named Sam. Sam is still a juve-­nile bird. Working with the raptors almost directly relates to pre historic birds of the same cali-­ber, which is very enjoy-­able for me being as (if everything goes well) I should like to be a Pale-­ontologist as time comes.

PERSON OF INTEREST: ELIZABETH HAWKINS-­HARRIS

Once upon a time, a man punished his five-­‐year-­‐old daughter for

before Christmas. Money was tight, so he became even more up-­‐set when on Christmas Eve, he saw that the child had used the

expensive gold paper to decorate a large shoebox she had put un-­‐der the Christmas tree. Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, "This is for you, Daddy!" As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her. But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. "Don't you know, young

supposed to be something inside the package!" The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whis-­‐pered: "Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full." The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his

arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger. An accident took the life of the child only a short time later. It is told that the father kept this little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was dis-­‐

couraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there. In a very real sense, each of us as hu-­‐man beings has been given an invisible golden box filled with un-­‐conditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and God. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.

Submitted by Emily MacNeil

Snow Day Bucket List

to spend them in the right way.

Step 1: The Night Before

load up on the holiday-­‐themed junk food.

Step 2: The Morning-­‐of

celled. Waking up that early may be hard, but the possibility of a day-­‐long sies-­‐

ta should be enough motivation.

Step 3: The Fun Begins

Should the unlikely snow-­‐day occur, here are a list of necessary things to help you use your time wisely:

worth it.

2) Bake. There is nothing better than food to get you in the holiday spirit.

3) Sit by the fire. It may be relaxing, but burning things can also be warm. And snow is cold. Fire helps.

than homework.

Rory Flynn

Q: What do elves learn in school?

A: The Elf-­abet

foot, what do astronauts get?

Q: What do you get when you

cross a snowman with a vampire?

A: Frostbite

Q: Why does Santa have 3 gardens?

A: So he can ho-­ho-­ho.

Q: Where do polar bears vote?

A: The North Poll.

Q: What do you get when you cross

an archer with a gift-­wrapper?

A: Ribbon hood.

Q: Why do birds fly south for the winter ?

A: Because it's to far to walk.

Q: What kind of bird can write?

A: A PENguin.

Q: What do you call a cat on the beach

at Christmas time?

A: Sandy Claus!

Q: What do you call people who are

afraid of Santa Claus?

Q: Why does Scrooge love Rudolph the Red-­Nosed

Reindeer?

A: Because every buck is dear to him.

Jokes Submitted by Emilie Barakett

Christmascatz Submitted by Claire Boileau

Fruitcake (a fictional story by Alex Bailie)

however, are a different story. get this trait from my grandmother;; however, min is half as extreme. Her infamous holiday fruitcakes are nothing but extraordinary. In a bad way. Her legendary recipe starts off with two cups of flour, a cup of sugar, a dash of nutmeg and some baking soda. The recipe continues along quite normally until you hit a cup of REAL fruit. This is where the fruitcake takes a turn for the worse. Her secret substitute? JUBJUBES. She says their juice is what makes her fruitcake great. She ways it makes it moist and chewy, but frank-­

Her underbaked, crumbly mixture feels like cottage cheese in your mouth. Her jubjubes make for an un-­

false, so she is constantly taking out her dentures and cleaning them with her latest knitting project. This gives

Suddenly, I feel a kick from under the table. It was my mother, telling me to just grin and bear it. I waited ten minutes for Grandma to go to the kitchen to fetch some tea for Mom and Dad. When she did, I made a break for the bathroom. I dashed up the stairs, hopping two or three at a time until I reached the top. I looked around the landing anxiously until I fixed my eyes on that florious white porcelain bowl in the bathroom. I have never been so glad to see a toilet in all my life! down, I was greeted with awkward stares.

mush again. One hour later, after exchanging Christmas gifts, we got to go home. The next morning, I bounced down the stairs. The first gift I opened was from Grandma. It was a card that read: Dear Angela, I know you will make effective use of your favourite holiday recipe! Love, Grandma. My mouth want dry as I read this. I looked at the

ATTACK OF THE NERD

BY: SARA MACDONALD Practically everyone these days knows more about physics from television than they re-­ally should, plays more video games than they really have time for, knows more about technology than they really need to, and pays more for the latest superhero movie than is really necessary. The Nerd-­Factor has taken over, and for now there is nothing we can really do about it. The number of visitors to Comic-­Con is rising, and the number of memes (if you do not know what that is, it is a true travesty) we laugh at is steadily growing. The popular TV series, The Big Bang Theory, this season has a steady 14.77 mil-­lion viewers in the United States alone. This show has brought the nerd-­factor to a high-­

years ago that a show based on a group of socially awkward sci-­entists would be this successful. Although Bill Nye the Science Guy made a pretty big impression on me about how awesome sci-­ence actually is, The Big Bang Theory has taken the reigns for a huge amount of the North American and British populations. The

cance as a derogatory term. While no more than a decade ago the

their social dismay was the subject of few offensive movies (think Revenge of the Nerds, 1984), nowadays it is almost seen as cool itself. Socially awkward teens are the subject of many movies, as can be seen by my large collection of Michael Cera films. People

watch more science fiction and fanta-­sy TV shows (the best, in my opinion, being Doctor Who, though this could be heavily debated) and read more science fiction books. Sci-­Fi movies such as Star Wars and Star Trek have become household names. Youtubers the Vlogbrothers have developed the large Nerd-­fighteria, a group I am proudly a member of. With the growth of technology, there are very few people who are not computer-­literate and almost everyone treats their phones

us has officially come out, and while I, and I am sure many others, feel as though they do not apply to the traditional

-­factor has most definitely taken over.

ATTACK OF THE NERD (PART TWO) BY: EMILY STAPLETON

Loserdom makes a return-­

The internet culture with its memes and so-­bringing slices of this culture to the mainstream masses. Sites like tumblr have an abundance of users proclaiming to adore Doctor Who, Harry Potter and Glee, and self-­

Or have they found something to replace their niche hobbies and interests? When you look in the social grouping of high school, the loud, obnoxious, annoying ones stand out. They fight to see who can like the obscure, unfashionable thing first. And they will fight you to the death insisting that they did. Dressing like you are a colorblind, mirror

ankle-­length camel coat and owl slippers. Case in point. Please, hipsters, go back to the football games and Twilight movies you belong with and leave us (Britney) alone!

DISCLAIMER: I am said person in an-­kle camel trench coat and owl slip-­pers. A) the slippers are comfortable, it was a colour day, and I got them as a gift

B) I was wearing the coat as a joke and to emulate this dude >

-­Kayleigh Robinson

HOT NOT Candy Canes

KK week

Tacky Holiday themed sweaters, vests, shirts etc

DIY gifts

Knitting by the fire

Young Chevy Chase (in Christmas Vacation

Getting as many cavities as Kayleigh because of the consumption of candy canes

Forgetting KK week (THIS IS A REMINDER)

Being too proud to confi-­dently rock an ugly sweater

Hallmark cards

Sewing the buttons on your blazer before the advent ser-­vice

Community getting can-­celled (balanced out with Arrested Development com-­ing back)

thing about the Twilight series for SOME period of time, whether you had a split-­‐

it was grade eight. This was the year that Twilight became huge. The majority of the students at Sacred Heart could be seen toting the thick black book with the mysterious apple on the cover. Naturally, I was perplexed and

mediately fell into the Twilight trap. I borrowed her copy for the weekend and read all 498 pages. After this, I im-­‐mediately borrowed New Moon and Eclipse and read them with haste. Then I went through a period of withdraw-­‐al waiting for Breaking Dawn. On August 2nd (the release date), I was actually visiting my grandparents in the small town they live in in New Brunswick. There was not a book store in the vicinity, so naturally, panic struck. Thankfully, my great uncle and aunt were going into Fredericton. I told them to go to Chapters and get the antici-­‐pated novel for me. They did and I was very grateful. I stayed up all night reading it and finished it by the next evening. Anyway, I loved the books. Whatever I was 13, young and naïve. Once I hit grade nine, I gradually de-­‐cided that Twilight was uncool, probably due to the opinions of my peers, but in my heart I was still deciding whether I was team Jacob or team Edward and I was secretly excited about the movie. When the cast was an-­‐

real. It came out November 28th

more comedic than anything. The acting was atrocious, the special effects were horrid and overall it was just over-­‐the-­‐top and really, really bad. When New Moon came out the next year, I went on the night it came out and laughed my head off for the entirety. Eclipse was a different story. I went on a Tuesday afternoon in the summer as a last minute decision. (True fact: on Tues-­‐days movie tickets are cheaper, in case

-­‐aged couple on a date were sitting down the row

the movie when it came out on DVD if I

the each movie, the acting and special effects seemed to get progressively worse.

breaking dawn (more like breaking hearts)

As I write this, I have just gotten home from Breaking Dawn part 1 on the premiere night (not the Thursday

reads Future Mrs. Cullen on my forehead. This movie certainly did not fail comically. Once again, the special effects and acting were monstrosities. As per usual, poor Taylor Lautner was stuck with horrible dialogue and

-­‐vampire baby (if not, I apologize for the

sue, I mentioned my fear of children. Well, my fear of childbirth is about 100 times worse. I absolutely refuse

same opinion as I have. I digress. So in Breaking Dawn, Bella is pregnant with this half-­‐vampire/half-­‐human

cause it turns out the thing is eating her from the inside. This concerns Edward to no end. He says some

assure you it was grotesque. If the movie had come out a month earlier, I would have included it in my Top

HOROSCOPES Aries:

-­‐Hannah Arendt

Taurus:

-­‐Nicolas de Chamfort

Gemini:

-­‐Kin Hubbard

Cancer: . the first time he bites off more than he can

-­‐Herb Caen

Leo:

-­‐William James

Virgo:

-­‐Og Mandino

Libra: endeavor to be -­‐ Socrates

Scorpio:

-­‐Thales

Sagittarius: -­‐Ralph Waldo Emerson

Capricorn: desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat oth-­‐

-­‐Ayn Rand

Aquarius: a person has risked himself and dares to become

-­‐Herbert Otto Pisces: self, and don't think of retiring from the world,

-­‐Samuel Johnson

By Amber Jones

MULTICULTURAL PHRASE OF THE MONTH:

Frohe Weihnachten means Happy Christmas in German.

FUN FACT: Kayleigh is the only person in her

of partially German descent.