My School of Rock Experience

By Andrew Altschuler

Staff Writer

Doing a drum solo on the spot in front of a crowd is pretty scary. I was doing a Led Zeppelin show for School of Rock in Cherry Hill, NJ, and for the last song in each show, the director introduces each member. The band who is playing in the background still plays while they are introduce everyone of us.

I was playing, “Whole Lotta Love”, and in the middle of the song, there is a two-minute breakdown, but I had to do it for at least five minutes. I was kind of scared because I was just coming up with what I did on the spot.

After each kid was introduced, I would do a little fill, and when I was introduced, I did the fill that was on the record that brings the song back into a little guitar solo. The song actually went pretty well. I did mess up a couple of times, nothing too major, and it was fine.

American Sniper Is a Must-See

By Jack Bixler

Movie Critic

American Sniper is the best movie of the year so far. It was action packed, drama filled, and heart pounding.

In this true-story performance, Bradley Cooper plays a cowboy in Texas who has a sudden urge to join the Navy Seals. He goes through the training and then does four tours in Iraq, getting a record breaking amount of kills.

Bradley Cooper’s outstanding performance in this earned him a nominee for Best Actor in the Oscars. During the time the movie was being filmed, he spoke on a Southern accent the whole time during the filming and even when he wasn't filming. Even when he was with his friends, he talked in a Southern accent. That shows how good of an actor he is.

American Sniper was nominated for six awards in the Oscars: Best Picture, Bradley Cooper for Best Actor. Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Best Writing in an Adapted Screenplay. Clearly, this movie is a must see for anyone into action and a little drama.

Living in China

Commentary By

Ben Hermans

Staff Writer

           About four years ago, I went to China for the first time.

I was told that I was going to be living in China for around three years. At first, I was kind of suspicious and scared, as well as nervous, about leaving my friends because I was worried that they wouldn’t remember me and I wouldn’t make new friends. When I got there, everything I had thought was completely wrong.

I Skyped with my friends and family at home frequently, and I made new friends very quickly.

In fact, I am still friends with almost everyone I met in China. Living in China was definitely an adventure, from meeting friends out in markets to meeting them at what is called “Pearl City”, which is a black market like the big mall in Shanghai.

The Trials and Trevails of Fantasy Football

Commentary by 

Daniel O’Malley

Staff Writer

I was furious.

I turned off the T.V and left the room, afraid that I was going to throw the remote at the T.V. I was so angry because Peyton Manning played a mediocre game for my fantasy football team for the third consecutive week.

Fantasy Football might be the most frustrating game alive. You can lose because one player underachieves or one bad player has a flukey great game. Sometimes I don’t know why I play Fantasy Football. But at the same time, I love it, as it helps me become more knowledgeable about football and provides an incredible rush when you win.

Students at Woodlynde have their own Fantasy Football league. Twelve players are involved, eight from Woodlynde. The league was started last year by senior Nick Spino. Seniors Joe Cureton and Dan DeLuca are now in charge of the league, which also includes seniors Ben Kotler, Mason Stamps, and Nick Scaramuzza, along with junior Seth Lapensohn.

Fantasy Football is where a group of people form their own virtual football league. The league is usually online, but it can be done offline.

Caroline Kothari: Montreal Trip Was Fantastic

By Caroline Kothari

Staff Writer

I went up to Montreal, Canada with my mom to visit my friend Nancy Chernoff and her family on Friday May 2. 

We flew up Friday afternoon and got there around 6:00 p.m. The first night we stayed at the Nelligan Hotel. It was so beautiful. We ordered room service and watched a movie called Endless Love. 

Our hotel was located in Old Montreal, Quebec, so the second day we explored Old Montreal, which is the oldest area in the city, in the morning. 

Then we decided that for Saturday night, instead of staying at the hotel, we would stay at my friend Nancy’s house. Around lunch time, Nancy picked us up and showed us all around Old Montreal. We stopped at Mount Royal to snap a selfie.  

We then drove to a restaurant to watch a hockey game with her and her family. The hockey team in Canada is called the Habs (in the U.S., it is called the Montreal Canadiens), so we watched the Habs play against Boston. It was a really interesting game, 

I usually don’t like hockey, but it was really fun. My favorite part about the hockey game was hanging out with everyone and just catching up with Nancy. Unfortunately, the Habs lost, but it was still a good game. 

After that, we went to a health food store to get some snacks and then went back to her house. We hung out for a few hours just talking and eating. It was really nice. For dinner, we decided to go to an Indian restaurant and the food was so good. 

The Indian food was a little different than how it is in the U.S, but I loved it. My diet is really strict and sometimes it’s healthy for me to live a little, but I stuck to my diet when I should have really just let loose. Anyhow, I thoroughly enjoyed the food. 

We talked and ate for a few hours. It was really awesome! Next thing I know it’s morning and we are getting ready to leave. We had a nice breakfast and then Nancy drove us to the airport. 

As the saying goes, “Time flies when you’re having fun,” and I had such a wonderful time. I would have to say it’s on my top 10 list of my favorite trips that I have taken.

Saying goodbye has never been a favorite of mine, but this is not the end of our journey to Montreal.  Right now, I don’t know the next time I am going back, but I am sure it is going to be very soon because it was truly wonderful.

Poetry by Liz Carney

By Liz Carney

Staff Writer

Autumn

Time for leaves to change color,

red,

orange,

yellow,

Falling down to the ground

Time for scarves and hats,

covering small children jumping in piles of leaves

Time for colder weather,

nipping at exposed skin

A whole new world takes over,

breathtaking and beautiful

One last magnificent experience before Jack Frost takes over,

bringing bleakness and misery for what seems like a lifetime

Blissful

Sky blue

It taste like freshly baked brownies

It smells like recently cut grass

It sounds like birds chirping

It feels like a slight breeze

It looks like the first ray of sun in the morning

Rage

Red

It taste like rubber

It smells like burning wood

It sounds like a dog's bark

It feels like poison running through your body

It looks like a roaring lion

Entertainment Review: YowaPeda Is Sports Anime at Its Finest

By Will Boswinkel

Staff Writer

YowaPeda is a unique anime because it is about cycling, a rare topic for shows in general. However, it is a comedy, which is an overused topic in anime. I like this combination; it takes two different genres (sports and comedy) and throws them into a very entertaining show.

This anime was produced by long running TMS Entertainment starting this past fall.

It comes out once a week, on Crunchyroll.com and the episodes are 24 minutes long.

TMS has helped produce animes like Ashita no Jo, Buzzer Beater, and D.Gray-Man. So for an anime, it is in fairly good hands.

The story centers around freshman Sakamichi Onoda and the Akihabara High School cycling team. Sakamichi is still trying to find his place in this world, which he finds when he races cycling star Shunsuke Imaizumi, and he is thrown into something he only dreamed of doing.

Sakamichi then meets freshman cyclist Shokichi Naruko, another cycling prodigy. The two prodigies convince Sakamichi to join the cycling team and to fulfill their dream of winning the Inter-High tournament.

The show is fun to watch because I enjoy watching the characters grow -- at first they were weak, but they are changing into cyclists who can challenge the best. In addition, the cast is great, and the story is full in the sense that is has no plot holes.

Do not pass this show up, it is an underrated gem.

*** Special thanks to Staff Writer Liam McNeil for proofing the story.