Leisure8

COmical

Mr. Gathje- “What did the Normans do when they got to France?”

Josh Bloomquist- “They Normed?”

Josh Rauterkus- “Dirk Nowitzki?”

Mr. Roshone- “Who are the top five influential Germans in history?” Student- “Karl Marx”Student- “Martin Luther”

Mr. Roshone- “Ryan, what is the main difference between New England and the southern colonies?”

Ryan Degener- “Umm...further south?”

Austin Bloomquist- “What’s up Broski?”Mr. Heaston- “If you say that again it’ll be five demerits for blatant disrespect.”

Yun Sik Oh- “I am a swagger!” Quotes!

Green Day trio Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool are going for a trifecta. The punk-revivalists are set to release three albums in next five months. These albums, according to Rolling Stone, will embrace a more mainstream-like sound, unlike their previous albums, which were pure punk-driven with a combination of anti-governmental lyrics and ideas. In a short amount of time, there will be 37 new Green Day songs. Three albums, entitled “Uno!,” “Dos!,” and “Tré!,” will be released in the months of September, November, and Janu-ary. “The first record is back-to-back basics power pop, classic Green Day, but composed with a new sound,” said Armstrong. “It’s like getting the party started. Then the next record reflects the party going wild. The third is about love and reflection.”

The release of three albums, however, could lead to problems. 37 songs is a lot to learn for the band. “It certainly does make you wonder if the quality is there,” said junior Blake Bat-ten. Yet fans are remaining optimistic. “Number one, they want to be unique. Very rarely does a band come out with three albums. Two, they took a break, and decided to come back and make some more music,” said math teacher Mr. Mike Smith. Friends since age 10, Armstrong and Dirnt grew up in Rodeo, California in the early 1990s. Drummer Tré Cool did not grow up in Rodeo, but joined the band a couple of years later. In 1994, Dookie, the band’s debut album, declared Green Day as the next generation of punk, mak-ing them a new success in the music business. Their follow up album, Insomniac (1995), did

Psy, a Korean singer, is rocking music-lovers all over the world with his new song “Gang-nam Style.” Released on July 15, “Gangnam Style” reached over 43 million downloads on iTunes, more than 70 million clicks on You-Tube, and raced to top of the iTunes Music Video Chart in a matter of weeks. Psy edged out other famous pop stars such as Justin Bieber (2nd), Katy Perry (3rd), Maroon 5 (4th), and Carly Rae Jepsen (5th) to become the first Korean singer to seize the top spot on the U.S. iTunes chart with the song’s elec-tronic rhythm and addictive “horse-riding dance”. It is almost unbelievable that Psy, a totally “unknown” singer on the global stage accord-ing to many music zealots, broke down the barrier of language. “Even though I do not re-ally understand the meaning of the lyrics. I like the way he dances; It is hilarious! I love his music,” said junior dean Richard Akro-mis. With his growing popularity, Psy is get-ting calls from elites in the music industry. On August 22, Psy made an appearance on VH1′s Big Morning Buzz Live to interpret the meaning of the song and the origin of his horse dance. He even gave hosts Carrie and Jason a personal tutorial on the show. On September 12, Psy also appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” to surprise Britney Spears. Following Ellen DeGeneres’ question about Britney’s formal mandarin dress, Psy responded “The focus of the dance is to dress classy and to dance cheesy.” Needless to say, he amused the audience. Psy also gave De-Generes and Spears a personal dance lesson. However, “X-Factor” judge Simon Cowell, appearing with Spears, refused Psy’s invita-tion to dance. According to Psy’s schedule, he was recently in Los Angeles to discuss pos-sible career options in the U.S. with famous producer Scooter Braun, the manager of fa-mous pop star Justin Bieber. While in L.A., he attended a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game with Braun and amused over 50,000 spectators with his horse-riding dance during

the seventh inning stretch. Though it appears that he burst onto the scene spontaneously, Psy, in fact, worked hard for this moment of fame. Psy, a 36-year-old singer with a twelve-year stage career back in his home country of Korea, is an alumnus of the Berklee College of Music, widely re-garded as one of the greatest music schools in the world. It was very unusual for a Korean student to study abroad at that time period, especially at a music school; he certainly fought a lonesome war. “It is pretty interest-ing that a Korean would come to the States to learn music. It would certainly have been a hard time for him,” said Akromis. Before becoming internationally known, Psy was accused of drug use and of evasion of military service in Korea. This hurt his public image and he gradually disappeared from the Korean music scene. “That was a huge hit on his stature as a singer. Later on, he participated in some other singers’ albums and tried to come back with new songs, but he was just unable to get back the popularity that he enjoyed when he debuted.” said junior Sunghan Yoon. However, as a bird flies higher after its first unsuccessful flight, Psy too is making a me-teoric rise as the leader of the “Korean wave,” a group of artists who are considered cutting edge in Korea and who are influencing global markets. According to Psy’s representative, “[he] was only planning on Japanese promotions but because of the unexpected global popu-larity of “Gangnam Style” we expect that we will need to adjust our future plans in Korea as well as his plans of promoting the song internationally. When Psy returns from the United States, we will discuss the details and plan a new schedule.” Junior, Kevin Jewell agrees, “He’s got the talent, and if he keeps making fantastic songs like “Gangnam Style” I think he might continue to have an impact on the world.” “The Returning Star”, as Psy is often referred to by his old Korean fans, is soaring again.

Gangnam Style:Korean YouTube Video Goes Viral

Green DayBack in Limelight: Releases Three Albums

not imitate the success of Dookie. Three years later, they released Nimrod (1997), their second major album. They then came out with one of the most accepted songs of their career, entitled “Good Riddance.” The song opened the gate-way for them to produce both slower, melodic songs, and hard-rocking songs. “I do like the in-tensity of their music,” said Batten. “It’s not too hardcore, but it’s also not too mellow.” Their fifth album, American Idiot, was also met with huge success. It was instantly recog-nized as one of the band’s finest album, mov-ing the band from head bobbers to harmonies in a narrative kind of way. “I like that they keep their music fresh while sticking to who they are,” said junior Jacob Eyth. “I think their con-stantly changing dynamic is how they appeal to new generations of fans.”

After five years of touring and writing, Green Day released 21st Century Breakdown. The an-archistic, 18-track record tells the story of two punk lovers adrift in the post-George W. Bush presidential era. Green Day’s ambition and abil-ity to push limits comes through in this record. The record includes their top song, “21 Guns.” As the release of the three new records ap-proaches, one thing is certain. Fans are antici-pating the band’s new music. “I’ve been wait-ing,” said junior Christian Jones. “Their music has always been good, and has always had a good style. It’s about time they’ve made some new music.” Fans can expect Green Day to do what they do best— their own thing.

photo courtesy of google images

With trampolines from wall to wall, Defy Grav-ity is a non-stop, fun filled day with friends and family. At Defy Gravity, you simply can’t have a bad time. When you walk into Defy Gravity, you will no-tice two huge rooms. The bigger of the two rooms is for the open jump; the other is for games like volleyball and dodge ball. The rooms are filled with small trampolines. They may be small, but they allow bouncers to go very high. Defy Gravity also holds weekly dodge ball tournaments where you can come enter with your own team or can join a team once you arrive. Other features offered by Defy Gravity include a Laser Maze and concessions. The Laser Maze is a very challenging course where you maneuver your way through lasers going from wall to wall. There

are four different levels of difficulty to suit your preferences. You can do the easy level if you don’t want any challenge, or you can do expert if you want a real challenge. And afterword you can stop at the concessions and pick up some drinks and maybe a snack or two. They have a wide variety of candy and other traditional concession snack food that taste great after a good session of jumping In my opinion, Defy gravity is one of the most exciting places to go in Omaha. I have only been there twice, and I enjoyed every second of both visits. I would rate Defy Gravity as 9 out of 10 stars; unfortunately, the last time I was there I broke my foot while jumping and ended up in the emergency room. It was a bad experience, but I know will go back someday to enjoy the thrill of this unique venue.

Brian Kim | Staff Writer

Grant Ramm | Staff Writer

Cooper Loth | Staff Writer

Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and

Leisure8

COmical

Mr. Gathje- “What did the Normans do when they got to France?”

Josh Bloomquist- “They Normed?”

Josh Rauterkus- “Dirk Nowitzki?”

Mr. Roshone- “Who are the top five influential Germans in history?” Student- “Karl Marx”Student- “Martin Luther”

Mr. Roshone- “Ryan, what is the main difference between New England and the southern colonies?”

Ryan Degener- “Umm...further south?”

Austin Bloomquist- “What’s up Broski?”Mr. Heaston- “If you say that again it’ll be five demerits for blatant disrespect.”

Yun Sik Oh- “I am a swagger!” Quotes!

Green Day trio Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, and Tré Cool are going for a trifecta. The punk-revivalists are set to release three albums in next five months. These albums, according to Rolling Stone, will embrace a more mainstream-like sound, unlike their previous albums, which were pure punk-driven with a combination of anti-governmental lyrics and ideas. In a short amount of time, there will be 37 new Green Day songs. Three albums, entitled “Uno!,” “Dos!,” and “Tré!,” will be released in the months of September, November, and Janu-ary. “The first record is back-to-back basics power pop, classic Green Day, but composed with a new sound,” said Armstrong. “It’s like getting the party started. Then the next record reflects the party going wild. The third is about love and reflection.”

The release of three albums, however, could lead to problems. 37 songs is a lot to learn for the band. “It certainly does make you wonder if the quality is there,” said junior Blake Bat-ten. Yet fans are remaining optimistic. “Number one, they want to be unique. Very rarely does a band come out with three albums. Two, they took a break, and decided to come back and make some more music,” said math teacher Mr. Mike Smith. Friends since age 10, Armstrong and Dirnt grew up in Rodeo, California in the early 1990s. Drummer Tré Cool did not grow up in Rodeo, but joined the band a couple of years later. In 1994, Dookie, the band’s debut album, declared Green Day as the next generation of punk, mak-ing them a new success in the music business. Their follow up album, Insomniac (1995), did

Psy, a Korean singer, is rocking music-lovers all over the world with his new song “Gang-nam Style.” Released on July 15, “Gangnam Style” reached over 43 million downloads on iTunes, more than 70 million clicks on You-Tube, and raced to top of the iTunes Music Video Chart in a matter of weeks. Psy edged out other famous pop stars such as Justin Bieber (2nd), Katy Perry (3rd), Maroon 5 (4th), and Carly Rae Jepsen (5th) to become the first Korean singer to seize the top spot on the U.S. iTunes chart with the song’s elec-tronic rhythm and addictive “horse-riding dance”. It is almost unbelievable that Psy, a totally “unknown” singer on the global stage accord-ing to many music zealots, broke down the barrier of language. “Even though I do not re-ally understand the meaning of the lyrics. I like the way he dances; It is hilarious! I love his music,” said junior dean Richard Akro-mis. With his growing popularity, Psy is get-ting calls from elites in the music industry. On August 22, Psy made an appearance on VH1′s Big Morning Buzz Live to interpret the meaning of the song and the origin of his horse dance. He even gave hosts Carrie and Jason a personal tutorial on the show. On September 12, Psy also appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” to surprise Britney Spears. Following Ellen DeGeneres’ question about Britney’s formal mandarin dress, Psy responded “The focus of the dance is to dress classy and to dance cheesy.” Needless to say, he amused the audience. Psy also gave De-Generes and Spears a personal dance lesson. However, “X-Factor” judge Simon Cowell, appearing with Spears, refused Psy’s invita-tion to dance. According to Psy’s schedule, he was recently in Los Angeles to discuss pos-sible career options in the U.S. with famous producer Scooter Braun, the manager of fa-mous pop star Justin Bieber. While in L.A., he attended a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game with Braun and amused over 50,000 spectators with his horse-riding dance during

the seventh inning stretch. Though it appears that he burst onto the scene spontaneously, Psy, in fact, worked hard for this moment of fame. Psy, a 36-year-old singer with a twelve-year stage career back in his home country of Korea, is an alumnus of the Berklee College of Music, widely re-garded as one of the greatest music schools in the world. It was very unusual for a Korean student to study abroad at that time period, especially at a music school; he certainly fought a lonesome war. “It is pretty interest-ing that a Korean would come to the States to learn music. It would certainly have been a hard time for him,” said Akromis. Before becoming internationally known, Psy was accused of drug use and of evasion of military service in Korea. This hurt his public image and he gradually disappeared from the Korean music scene. “That was a huge hit on his stature as a singer. Later on, he participated in some other singers’ albums and tried to come back with new songs, but he was just unable to get back the popularity that he enjoyed when he debuted.” said junior Sunghan Yoon. However, as a bird flies higher after its first unsuccessful flight, Psy too is making a me-teoric rise as the leader of the “Korean wave,” a group of artists who are considered cutting edge in Korea and who are influencing global markets. According to Psy’s representative, “[he] was only planning on Japanese promotions but because of the unexpected global popu-larity of “Gangnam Style” we expect that we will need to adjust our future plans in Korea as well as his plans of promoting the song internationally. When Psy returns from the United States, we will discuss the details and plan a new schedule.” Junior, Kevin Jewell agrees, “He’s got the talent, and if he keeps making fantastic songs like “Gangnam Style” I think he might continue to have an impact on the world.” “The Returning Star”, as Psy is often referred to by his old Korean fans, is soaring again.

Gangnam Style:Korean YouTube Video Goes Viral

Green DayBack in Limelight: Releases Three Albums

not imitate the success of Dookie. Three years later, they released Nimrod (1997), their second major album. They then came out with one of the most accepted songs of their career, entitled “Good Riddance.” The song opened the gate-way for them to produce both slower, melodic songs, and hard-rocking songs. “I do like the in-tensity of their music,” said Batten. “It’s not too hardcore, but it’s also not too mellow.” Their fifth album, American Idiot, was also met with huge success. It was instantly recog-nized as one of the band’s finest album, mov-ing the band from head bobbers to harmonies in a narrative kind of way. “I like that they keep their music fresh while sticking to who they are,” said junior Jacob Eyth. “I think their con-stantly changing dynamic is how they appeal to new generations of fans.”

After five years of touring and writing, Green Day released 21st Century Breakdown. The an-archistic, 18-track record tells the story of two punk lovers adrift in the post-George W. Bush presidential era. Green Day’s ambition and abil-ity to push limits comes through in this record. The record includes their top song, “21 Guns.” As the release of the three new records ap-proaches, one thing is certain. Fans are antici-pating the band’s new music. “I’ve been wait-ing,” said junior Christian Jones. “Their music has always been good, and has always had a good style. It’s about time they’ve made some new music.” Fans can expect Green Day to do what they do best— their own thing.

photo courtesy of google images

With trampolines from wall to wall, Defy Grav-ity is a non-stop, fun filled day with friends and family. At Defy Gravity, you simply can’t have a bad time. When you walk into Defy Gravity, you will no-tice two huge rooms. The bigger of the two rooms is for the open jump; the other is for games like volleyball and dodge ball. The rooms are filled with small trampolines. They may be small, but they allow bouncers to go very high. Defy Gravity also holds weekly dodge ball tournaments where you can come enter with your own team or can join a team once you arrive. Other features offered by Defy Gravity include a Laser Maze and concessions. The Laser Maze is a very challenging course where you maneuver your way through lasers going from wall to wall. There

are four different levels of difficulty to suit your preferences. You can do the easy level if you don’t want any challenge, or you can do expert if you want a real challenge. And afterword you can stop at the concessions and pick up some drinks and maybe a snack or two. They have a wide variety of candy and other traditional concession snack food that taste great after a good session of jumping In my opinion, Defy gravity is one of the most exciting places to go in Omaha. I have only been there twice, and I enjoyed every second of both visits. I would rate Defy Gravity as 9 out of 10 stars; unfortunately, the last time I was there I broke my foot while jumping and ended up in the emergency room. It was a bad experience, but I know will go back someday to enjoy the thrill of this unique venue.

Brian Kim | Staff Writer

Grant Ramm | Staff Writer

Cooper Loth | Staff Writer

Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and

Leisure8

Colin Svoboda | Staff Writer

Kevin Jewell | Staff Writer

Take a look at

a few of next

month‛s highly-

anticipated fea-

ture fi lms!

Movies in the Making!

Zombie Apocalypse Survival TipsThe Mayans predicted it: the world is on its way to an immediate end. According to the Mayan calendar, December 21st, 2012 marks the date when the clock takes an unfortunate turn backwards, and seals the fate of humanity. Many skeptics and apocalypse believers are currently arguing over the matter. At Mount Michael, the subject of a possible apocalypse has many students and faculty members excited. Whether the end comes or not, here are some helpful tips in case the 2012 “End of the World” comes, in the form of a zombie apocalypse.

In the past decade, the music industry has experienced a storm of new small artists. In 2005, over 18% of all music sales were from independent labels, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This number has been on the rise with small artists and bands releasing mix tapes every week. One of these artist is Ben Haggerty. Haggerty, known by his stage name Macklemore, recently released his debut al-bum The Heist. Macklemore has been on the up and coming since his senior year in high school, and The Heist gives his fans the great-est taste of his musical genius thus far. The fi fteen track album was released on Oc-tober 9, 2012. Macklemore and his producer, Ryan Lewis, have been working on the album tirelessly since last year. Though the album is labeled as hip-hop, Macklemore often crosses the boundaries of traditional hip-hop and in-corporates pieces of his life into his music. Leading up to the release, Macklemore re-leased “My Oh My” a joyous tune describing the Seattle Mariner’s comeback win in the 1995 American League Division Champion-ship, an important part of Macklemore’s child-hood. “My Oh My” is one of the best songs that a listener has never heard. Though Mackl-emore is talking about his childhood, the song is relatable to almost all listeners. Being a small time artist has its advantages. Macklemore is able to write songs about his struggles being censored, and he often talks of his struggles to overcome his addiction to al-cohol. However, Macklemore does sing about lighter topics, like being frugal in his song

“Thrift Shop” that utilizes fast, catchy beats. Likewise, the synonymous theme through-out The Heist is Macklemore’s use of upbeat sounds and catchy lyrics. Songs like “Jimmy Iovine” and “Same Love” tell the story of Macklemore’s childhood through the same in-strumental sounds. Brendan Walsh, an assistant dean and a ju-nior at thr University of Nebraska at Omaha, enjoys discovering small-time artists. “Big colleges have aided greatly to the rise of these small artists with such a clash of different tastes and cultures present at these institutions,” said Walsh. Possibly the greatest aid to the young artists has been apps like Pandora and Spotify. These apps randomly shuffl e songs based on songs that the user has liked. For instance lik-ing a song by a popular artist will often lead to similar songs by small artists. The Heist is a perfect example of what makes small artists so appealing. Macklemore effec-tively uses upbeat tempos and sounds to de-scribe his life. I personally found every one of his songs a new and creative way of telling his life’s story. Look for artists like Macklemore to be on the rise with their authentic lyrics and growth of music fi nding apps like Pandora and Spotify. Macklemore and other small artists can be found across the internet and blogs. Most importantly, small artists grow through students sharing music. So in the coming weeks, broaden your music tastes and try to listen to the Macklemore station or another small artist on Pandora. I think you’ll love it.

The distinction between videogames and reality are beginning to interfere with one-an-other. According to Junior Elijah Buckhold, a veteran gamer, the immersive environment of a videogame is very satisfying. “I love im-mersion. At some points in BF3 (Battlefi eld 3) I actually feel as if I am there in the war.” Buckhold likes the consequences of a video-game better than reality. “In reality war is hell, but in games it is fun and a bit scary at times. In video games, you have complete free will and have no punishment for your actions be-side the immediate.” Buckhold fi nds beauti-ful detailed graphics to be another key to the immersion of a video game. “When you fi re a bow, the arrow parts grass and plants in its path. When you shoot the arrow through a wall of fi re, the arrow is set on fi re and does addi-tional damage.” Along with veteran gamers like Buckhold, doctors and surgeons fi nd that video games improve their surgical practices. According to Verena Dobnik, a writer for nbcnews.com, “doctors who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made about 37 percent fewer mistakes in laparo-

scopic surgery and performed the task 27 per-cent faster than their counterparts who did not play video games.” Buckhold agrees, he prais-es the capacity of mental and logical thinking that a video game challenges. “Video games can help to train the mind in different ways. Shooters train refl exes, RPG train problem solving and management, and Strategy games help with decision making.” From high quality graphics to fully immer-sive gameplay Buckhold is able to benefi t from the interconnected space of the digital world as well. Through a video game, players like Buckhold can communicate and play with their friends through an internet connection. Buckhold uses this benefi t to his advantage. “...due to the fact that I am here and far from all my friends, video games are the only thing we can really do together.” Although Buckhold enjoys the interconnect-ed immersion of the cyber world, Junior Ben Connealy has a different point of view. “Real life is much more interesting. If I spent all my time in a fake world I wouldn’t have time for the real one. The real life equivalent to any vid-

eo game is ten times more intense.”According to an online article, Obesity In Children & Video Games from LiveStrong.com, the writ-er Alexandra Moymer stated, “Health profes-sionals have determined that a great number of children are infl uenced by gaming obses-sion, leading to a lack of physical activity.” Connealy understands that real life activities are too valuable to waste. “You have your whole life to live. When you die you aren’t going to regret not playing a video game. You will regret not getting out there and living your life.” Although there may be a few glitches be-tween videogames and real life, the reality and virtual reality that people surround themselves presents positive and negative outcomes. With this, certain people will continue their adven-tures of gaming while others enjoy their out-door adventures too. Between the two sides of reality, the feud still rages on. While people like Connealy continue to separate themselves from the video game world, people like Buck-hold continue to embrace their virtual one.

sionals have determined that a great number

sion, leading to a lack of physical activity.” Connealy understands that real life activities are too valuable to waste. “You have your whole life to live. When you die you aren’t going to regret not playing a video game. You will regret not getting out there and living

Although there may be a few glitches be-tween videogames and real life, the reality and virtual reality that people surround themselves presents positive and negative outcomes. With this, certain people will continue their adven-tures of gaming while others enjoy their out-door adventures too. Between the two sides of reality, the feud still rages on. While people

are too valuable to waste. “You have your whole life to live. When you die you aren’t

Colin Svoboda | Staff Writer

Real vs. Virtual: The dispute between a gamer and non-gamer Sticky Sayings!

Cory Keegan- [bowls a bad ball]

Mr. Roshone- “Can you give

me some personal traits for

Abraham Lincoln?”

Kevin Jewell | Kevin Jewell | Kevin Jewell Staff Writer

:Ra� er on the Rise

Mr. Roshone- “Josh, do you

know anything about Napo-

leon?”

Josh Rauterkus- “Uhm, he

was short?”

Grant Ramm- “Look! There’s

a big duck!”

Jake Recker- “Grant, that’s

a crow.”

Mr. Cormier- “Cory, you make me physically nau-seous.”

Connor Coon- “He was a car-

penter.”

Mr. Roshone- “No, you’re

thinking of Jesus.”

Arnold Schwarzeneg-ger returns to the fi lm-ing industry in this action-packed movie; a town sheriff, Schwar-zenegger, fi ghts off a well-known gang of drug cartels.

THE LAST STANDBilbo Baggins and his fel-low dwarves and hobbit friends return to the cin-ematic spotlight as they begin their adventure to reclaim a treasure stolen from them by the dragon Smaug.

THE HOBBITDirector Kathryn Big-elow reveals the truth behind the SEALs’ hunt for the al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in operation Zero Dark Thirty.

ZERO DARK THIRTY

vs.Real vs. Virtual: The dispute between a gamer and non-gamerReal vs. Virtual: The dispute between a gamer and non-gamerReal vs. Virtual: The dispute between a gamer and non-gamerReal vs. Virtual: The dispute between a gamer and non-gamer

Cartoon by David Bastian