Transcript
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STAFF

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Teacher Advisor :

DIANE LEWIS

Cover Art : TYLER HYDE

SUBMISSIONS …

Amy Donovan Breton Cousins Alysha Cantwell

Tyler Hyde Samantha White Stefani MacNeill

Jessica Layton Brennan MacNeil

Ashley Lewis Mitch Johnston Chelsea Mulley

Sarah Mary MacDonald Megan Tobin

Bobby Matheson Corrinne Brown

Are welcome! If anyone would like to submit an article, photo, drawing, short story, poem, review, etc., for publication, they can drop it off in the first of January in Room 311 with Diane Lewis, or anywhere with

Amy. Submissions can also be emailed to

Next month’s theme is: HUMOR!

[email protected] same can be done with letters to the editor commenting on

anything appearing in the paper. Don’t be shy!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Editorial 4 Comic Strip: Bucket Hat Bobby 5 The Maverick’s Holiday Special 6

Holidays Of The World 7 10 Things You Should Know About Christmas 10 To the Season 11 Shaking Our $30-Billion Christmas Presents 12 Adopt-a-Family / SPCA Christmas Tree 14 Poem: Vision of Christmas 15 Poem: Winter’s Wonders 16 Red, Blue, or Green? 17 Top 10 Holiday Movies of All Time 18 Holiday Traditions 20

Thoughtbox 21 Rantbox: Poverty 21 Newsbox: Afghanistan 23

Where the World Meets 26 Short Story: Luke 28 The Scene 32

Movies 32 → Edward Scissorhands 32

Books 33 → The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice 33

Music 34 → AFI: They’re Bringing Music Back … Yeah! 34 → Never Hear the End of It: Sloan 35

Sports News 36 Poetry Corner 38 Ask Aphrodite 39 Horoscopes 40 What’s Happening 41 Holiday Pet Pictures 43

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Season’s greetings, all! Hopefully, by the time you read this, we will have had at least one snowfall. So far, there hasn’t been a hint of white in the air. In fact, it rained today, but I’m not despairing yet. (As I write this, it’s November 24, and I am at home because we have no school!)

Some of you may have noticed that this issue of the Maverick is titled “Holiday Issue,” not “Christmas Issue. Now, before anyone sends me hate mail, I do realize that we printed in the last issue that this would have a Christmas theme. I apologize to all of you in advance for my lack of foresight and/or political correctness. And, speaking of the last issue, I’m told that a few copies got out that were seriously screwed up. I apologize for that too—hopefully it won’t happen again. I also would like to apologize to Tyler Hyde, who did a really great cover for us on a really short timeline, and whose cover somehow didn’t end up being printed. (It’s featured on the back of this issue.) He also needs to be apologized to because one of his paintings got covered up by a poem. Finally, sorry to Ben Johnstone, whose name was spelled wrong on the artwork he submitted.

Whew! If there are any other mistakes I should be feeling guilty about, feel free to let me know. Now—moving on!

As I was saying, we are calling this the Holiday Issue. You know why? Because hard as it is for a lot of us to believe, outside of Sydney Mines a lot of Canadians don’t celebrate Christmas. Canada is a strongly—and proudly, and determinedly, etc—multi-cultural country. You’ll find an article about that in this issue, as well as an article about what other holidays people celebrate around this time of year.

The question many locals are asking lately is, “When does multiculturalism go too far? Where do you draw the line?” In some schools, Christmas concerts are no longer permitted. (“Holiday” concerts are.) You have to ask yourself if, in a largely Christian town, we need to go so far with political correctness. I work in a deli, and I’d be willing to bet that I’m going to be wished a lot of “Merry Christmases” this month when I dole out salami. I’m probably going to say “Merry Christmas” a million times too. Is that okay? At my Superstore, I think it is. At a Superstore in Toronto or Vancouver, maybe it wouldn’t be. I also think, though, that it’s okay (even a good idea) to have a holiday concert instead of a Christmas concert. Because how would you feel if, at six or seven years old, you were the only, say, Jewish kid in a small-town school, and nobody even acknowledged the fact that your religion existed? You would probably feel pretty left out and confused. Isn’t it worth a little extra effort in writing the “Christmas play” so nobody has to feel that way? That’s a personal question and one that requires some thought, and it’s not easy to answer. So—I’m going to shut up now. To anyone who read this far—think about that question.

I’ll leave with one final deep thought: from all of us here at the Maverick, enjoy your winter vacation, and we’ll be back in 2007 with even more profound musings in January’s Humor Issue!

Happy Holidays!

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Neal John MacRae

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Who’s excited about the upcoming holiday season? The Maverick staff sure is! We’ve been working like elves for the past month to get this issue together for you, so get reading! The holidays are a time for family, friends, fun, giving and receiving gifts, and reaching out to others—among other things, one of the BEST of which is WINTER VACATION! We’re also giving you a chance to learn more about what people around the world do during the holidays. So, enough of me—start reading, and enjoy!

Happy New Year! This is the front of a card for our Adopt-a-

Family by the newspaper staff. Read on to find out more! This is a smaller graphic of the bee-yoou-tee-ful inside!

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There are many different ways people celebrate the holidays. It could be a condition of their religion, culture, race, law, or their preference. In any case, it is not just to say that every person in the world celebrates the holidays the same way we do. (Notice I use the word “holiday,” as not everybody celebrates Christmas, as you will soon find out.) To some, this time of year is very special and sacred. For others, the holidays mean lots of food and presents. Here are a few holidays celebrated around the world.

CHRISTMAS Let’s start with Christmas. What is the true meaning of Christmas? This question pops up frequently among children. The answer is, of course, the birth of Christ. However, many people look at it in another way. What happens when you meet someone in the store or the mall at this time of year? The questions you are asked throughout the conversation are: “What are you getting for Christmas? Have you been nice this year?” These questions relate to the other famous Christmas icon, Santa Claus, who represents the idea and spirit of gift-giving, sharing, love and kindness. Christmas, in our culture, is celebrated on one day, December 25th. But imagine getting presents for 12 days! That’s what people in Latvia are used to. Father Christmas brings presents for 12 days, starting on Christmas Eve. The presents are placed under the tree. Another interesting piece of information is that the first Christmas tree to be decorated was done so in Latvia. If you thought that the Latvians traditions were cool, you should check out Finland. The Fins believe that Father Christmas actually lives in an area within their country called Korvatunturi, which is north of the Arctic Circle. But here’s the really interesting part. There is actually a Christmas theme park in a northern area of Finland. That’s right, tourists from all over the world can come to go to “Christmas Land,” the theme park that is said to be close to where Father Christmas lives. I wonder if there’s a sugar plum merry-go-round? Germany is known for its extravagant Christmas decorations. Manger scenes, wreaths with the 4 advent candles, and electric candles in windows are only a few of the sights to see at Christmastime in Germany. Germans receive presents from both Father Christmas (known as “Der Weihnachtsmann”) and little Jesus. Father Christmas brings presents in the late afternoon of Christmas Eve, while little Jesus brings the children gifts during the evening. A Christmas delicacy in Germany is stuffed cabbage.

HANUKKAH Hanukkah is celebrated worldwide by Jewish people. It is a festival

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that lasts eight days and nights, starting around late November or late December (the Jewish calendar depends on solar and lunar calendars, so the dates don’t change on their calendar, but change on the calendar that North Americans follow). Hanukkah means “dedication” in Hebrew. In 165 B.C., the Jews were victorious in battle against the Hellenist Syrians. After Antiochus, the Greek King of Syria, condemned the Jewish people and forced them to worship Greek Gods, the Jews fought back and defeated the Syrians. This battle is commemorated on Hanukkah. A Menorah is a set of eight candles that Jewish people burn throughout Hanukkah to remember an eight day miracle that took place after the battle between the Jews and the Syrians. When the Jews returned to their temple that had been destroyed by the Syrians, they found a menorah. There was only enough oil for the menorah to burn for one day, yet, it burned for eight straight days. During those eight days, another flask of oil was found to keep the menorah from burning out. This miracle is also commemorated on Hanukkah. Today’s menorah resembles the same menorah that was lit in the Jewish holy temple, and it comes in all different shapes and sizes. During Ancient times, Menorahs were made of clay. The only condition is that the flames of the menorah must not be too close together or it will resemble a pagan bonfire.

KWANZAA Kwanzaa was established in California in 1966, by a man named Ron Karenga. (Karenga was the leader of the black nationalist United Slaves Organization.) Kwanzaa was created to be an alternate holiday to Christmas and to help African Americans realize their culture, heritage and roots. This is a quote from Mr. Karenga, taken from www.wikipedia.org: “…it was chosen to give a Black alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society.” The word Kwanzaa comes from the phrase “matunda ya kwanza.” This phrase means “first fruits” in Swahili, an East African Language. The celebration of Kwanzaa takes place over seven days. People who celebrate Kwanzaa have a kinara, a candleholder with seven candles, similar to a menorah. Each candle represents a principal of Kwanzaa. These principals are:

Umoja: Unity Kujichagulia: Self Determination

Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility Ujamaa: Cooperative Economics

Nia: Purpose Kuumba: Creativity

Imani: Faith I’m sure that if we all took these values seriously, the world would be a much nicer place. In 1997, a Kwanzaa stamp was made by the United States Postal Service. In 2004, an artist named Daniel Minter created a second Kwanzaa stamp. This stamp includes seven figures of people wearing colorful robes. The seven figures represent the seven principals of Kwanzaa.

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ROHATSU Rohatsu is celebrated by Zen Buddhists. Rohatsu means the eighth day of the twelfth month, when it is celebrated. It is said that on this day, the Buddha, while in deep meditation under a bodhi tree, saw the morning star, the planet Venus. It is said that it was then that the Buddha experienced enlightenment. The meditated state that he was in is called Samadhi, a very deep form of meditation. Yet the morning star was so bright that it broke the Buddha’s meditation, and he felt enlightened.

Buddhist worshipers meditate at this time of year to feel what Buddha was feeling at this moment. They try too, to feel enlightened. During that moment of enlightenment, it is said that all of Zen was held in the deep impression of the Buddha’s mind. The meditation process takes a week, the same time that the Buddha was in Samadhi before he was enlightened by the morning star.

DIWALI Diwali is a holiday celebrated by Hindu people. It is also very important in Sikhism and Jainism. The holiday celebrates the victory of good over evil. Diwali is also known as the “Festival of Lights.” It is a tradition to light lamps on Diwali, to signify celebration and the optimism for the fate of mankind. Many people wear new clothes, share food and light firecrackers.

RAMADAN, EID UL FITR, EID UL ADHA Ramadan is a month-long holiday celebrated by Muslims. Throughout this period of time, Muslims fast, pray, and reflect on ways to improve their lives. The beginning of Ramadan depends on the phases of the moon. This year’s dates were: September 23 to October 22. The word Ramadan comes from the Islamic word “ramd,” which means to burn. It is believed that by fasting all throughout the month of Ramadan, you can burn away all sins. Eid ul Fitr is a Muslim holiday celebrated at the end of Ramadan. It means, “Festival of Breaking Feast.” On this day, friends and/or families get together for feasts and company.

Eid ul Adha is a holiday celebrated by Muslims, which comes when the Hajj pilgrimage ends. Millions of Muslims participate in this event. On this day, families sacrifice a cow or camel, while individuals sacrifice a goat or a lamb.

These are some holidays celebrated around the world. As you can see, there are many different meanings of the word holiday, that apply to many different people. However, it can be safely concluded that all of these holidays represent a very important point in many people’s culture, religion, race, law, and so on.

Hopefully this article has helped you to realize that having an understanding of the word diversity goes a long way in discovering who you are. There are so many different holidays with so many traditions, so we cannot be ignorant and think that the holidays that we celebrate are the only ones in the world. So Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Shubh Diwali, Ramadan Mubarak, Eid Mubarak, and a Happy New Year!

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The word Christmas comes from Cristes maesse, or "Christ's Mass."

Each year, 34-36 million Christmas trees are produced to cope

with the Christmas demand.

Candy canes began as white sticks of sugar candy used to decorate Christmas trees. It wasn't until about the 20th century that candy canes acquired their red stripes.

The largest functional Christmas cracker was 45.72 meters long

and 3.04 meters in diameter. It was made in Australia on November 9th, 1991.

During the Christmas season, more than 1.76 billion candy

canes will be made.

Christmas trees are edible; many parts of pines, spruces, and firs can be eaten. The needles are a good source of vitamin C and pine nuts, or pine cones, are also a good source of nutrition.

Due to the time zones, Santa has 31 hours to deliver gifts. This

means that he would have to visit 832 homes each second!

The first Christmas card was designed in 1843 by J.C. Horsley.

Christmas lights were the creation of Edward H. Johnson, an associate of the inventor Thomas Edison. He used them to decorate Christmas trees in place of candles.

In our part of the world, Santa Clause brings gifts to good girls

and boys. This isn’t the case in other areas. Different regions have different gift givers. Here are a few examples…

Germany: Christkind, an angelic messenger from Jesus, brings the gifts. She is a beautiful fair haired girl with a shining crown of candles.

Italy: Gifts are brought by La Befana, a kindly old witch. Russia: Babouschka, a grandmotherly figure, gives presents

out at Christmas. Scandinavia: A variety of Christmas gnomes pass out

presents.

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I’m hoping we’ve all gotten over the initial blow behind the “truth” about Santa. It’s been over ten years since I learned the truth, that is, looked up Santa Claus in the encyclopedia. Hint two? Found presents in my parents’ closet. (This leads to my conclusion that they were often the “seekers” in their childhoods’ “hide and seek” games. Despite the years since I was “enlightened,” my mother had actually never said “There is no Santa.” Her reply? “You won’t receive if you don’t believe.” Sadly, this Christmas, again, brings the final of another Christmas comfort. This is that last Christmas I’ll be truly at home. Next year my Christmas gift will probably be a plane ticket home (one of a few trips back here). All of this, to me, is mind-boggling. (Undergrads, keep lovin’ it!) Regardless if you can or can’t relate to all this, there is a moral for each of us: The holiday season is one of the most important and celebrated! Why? It brings all family and friends together, no matter the distance of their differences. So regardless if you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or something else, spend it with those you love—and hey! Be merry!

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First things first: this article, I gotta admit, is going to be

about Christmas. I am not going to mention Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or what have you—I am just going to talk about Christmas. Some of you may see this article as a rant; personally I see it as the blind ramblings of an overly materialistic, possibly naïve child of the twentieth century—with some stats from Statistics Canada thrown in.

Okay, so, what do you think of when you think of Christmas? When I think of Christmas, I think of family, love, church,

good food, pretty lights, nine reindeer and a sleigh, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the angel Gabriel, and the whole bit. But before I think of any of these things, I must admit I think of presents. I think of that list of CDs I hope to see under the tree. I think of those new boots I still have to shop for. I wonder what my friends will buy me and I fret over what I’m going to buy them and, so help me, if the presents I bought them are expensive/cool/[insert trendy adjective here] enough.

Why is this? I mean, I know I’m not special. I know that everybody thinks more about the gifts that about the cliché “true meaning of Christmas.” But what is that meaning, anyway? People say it’s that the point is to give, not to get. And I’ve been trying to get into that point this year. I’ve been trying to give to local charities, donating time, money, and things—though, sadly, I haven’t got as much time as I would like to have for any of these causes. The truth is, though, that’s not the point of Christmas; the real point of Christmas isn’t about giving or getting—Christmas is supposed to be a religious holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that definition no longer fits. Is that a bad thing?

To tell the truth, I don’t know—it probably is. Christmas is an expensive event and there are quite a few families out there who can’t afford the demands that society makes of them to buy, buy, and buy some more. But, personally, I enjoy Christmas shopping. I enjoy this whole season. I enjoy the spirit. And, think of the buy-buy-buying in another way: while there is more business for stores, there are more hours for the people who work there, and therefore more money for them. I’m probably going to be working “full-time” during Christmas vacation, and that’s fine with me. Stores do big

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business around Christmastime, and that’s good for the economy. In December of 2002, Canadians spent $30 billion, presumably on Christmas gifts. That same December, retail sales made up 10% of the annual total—while the other 11 months only got a measly 8.3% of sales each. Christmas merch starts showing up in stores as soon as Halloween is past, and so do the decorations. (It seems to get earlier and earlier every year.) Nearly half of annual sales in toys and games occur after October of each year. Would this boom occur if it were not for the ever-growing commercialization of Christmas? I’m not an economist, but I’d say probably not.

So, here are my thoughts (I think): Christmas is technically about baby Jesus’ birth. Those of us who intend to have a tree with presents underneath it this year should take a few moments to think about that—because whether you are or not, whether you believe in it or not, by giving and receiving Christmas presents you are calling yourself a Christian. When you think of baby Jesus, think of what he stood for: helping others, loving your neighbor as yourself. This is when you should start telling yourself that Christmas is more about giving than about getting. This is when you should tell yourself, “Maybe I will donate to Christmas Daddies this year. Maybe I will volunteer at the Salvation Army. Maybe I’ll make something special—something personal—for my grandmother instead of buying her that cheap, sparkly snowman ornament.”

It’s just a thought. However, if you do start thinking like me, think about this, too: everyone thinks about the less fortunate during the Christmas season. However, the less fortunate are still unfortunate for the rest of the year. It’s nice to give people an awesome Christmas, but why let them suffer from January to November?

Anyway, in conclusion, I am still going to be shaking presents for the remainder of this month. I’m still going to be worrying over the presents I buy everyone, and I’m probably going to leave all of my shopping till late and then waste money on stuff that is way too expensive because I don’t have time to consider what I’m doing.

Maybe that’s okay, though. In this crazy world, when a religious holiday is more about getting a new TV than about worshipping, maybe we need to shake some presents occasionally. Maybe it’s good to take a break from thinking about the deep, dark mysteries of life and sink into that awesome feeling of anticipating Christmas and almost being a kid again. For those of us who rant about the commercialization of Christmas, we should take a moment to remember all the good that Christmas inspires, too, and that maybe it evens out in the end. After all—what are you going to do about it? Abolish Christmas? Forbid stores to stock up on extra merchandise for December? Tell corporations they can’t advertise? I don’t think so.

Yeah—I think, if only once a year, we need to shake presents.

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ADOPT-A-FAMILY

THE MAVERICK SPREADING THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT As some of you may realize, what little money we at the

Maverick make from selling newspapers has been piling up in our bank account for quite some time now. This holiday season, we decided to do something a little bit different about it. So, instead of buying a really cool prize to offer in a contest (due to complete lack of enthusiasm on the part of our readers), and instead of throwing ourselves a pizza party (who really needs more pizza?), we decided to participate in the Every Woman Centre’s Adopt-a-Family program. The program reaches out to the community by providing Christmas gifts for the children of less fortunate families in Cape Breton, and the way this works is that each family is assigned to and then sponsored by an individual or an organization—or, in this case, a student newspaper.

So, a couple of weeks ago Breton and I (“I” being Amy, as most of you have probably guessed) went shopping for a baby. We bought everything a 14-month-old girl could want for Christmas (including a glow-in-the-dark color-changing-neon-light teddy bear). We also bought some trinkets for her parents and some Christmas candy; and some Christmas decorations were donated. This gift will make one unknown family out there really happy this Christmas, and that gives us a warm feeling inside. How about you?

By the time this issue is on sale, it will be too late for any

readers to participate in the Adopt-a-Family program this year. It will also be too late for any of you to donate your old clothing to the Salvation Army through school (though on your own, you can donate at any time). Through school, we donated 31 garbage bags of good used clothing, which I think is quite the accomplishment. However, the Maverick is now collecting Christmas presents for orphaned pets. Each year the SPCA has a animal Christmas tree project, where people donate dog and cat toys, treats, beds, etc., for shelter animals who would not otherwise have these doggie luxuries. You can also donate old collars, leashes, and towels for the animals to sleep on (nobody wants to sleep on a cement floor). Anyone who would like to donate to this Christmas cause can drop pet merch off in room 311 with Diane Lewis.

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The chandelier of heaven lights Descend upon the waking nights Serenity plays upon winter bliss

Everything with love exists

Wake up children, morning sings Spread your mind, spread your wings

The angels cheer with Christmas hymns Waiting for laughter to begin

Look at those small almond eyes

Look how bright they seem to shine Drinking in the perfect portrait

Of ruby red orbs on the tips

Of a large shimmering emerald tree And the whiteness situated like a sea Or like a carpet of small opal jewels

Still, silent and wondrously cool

Dig into your pool of presents Embrace upon the warming scent

For once, enjoy the sweet emotions And the yelling family commotion

For once, be thankful of the love

That one has sent from high above And just remember now to cherish

For one day, those things will fade and perish

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Bitter cold winds greet us year after year,

Telling us winter has come. New snow falls as winter’s frontier

Traps us under his thumb.

Jack Frost pays a visit to one and all, Covering everything in white.

His icy visit greets us just after fall, And holds us with all his might.

Now winter isn’t just ice and cold,

It has its wonders as well. If you look close enough it will unfold,

All of its secrets to tell.

A sparrow’s footprints on a snow white ground. Snowmen in every yard.

Snow slowly falling without a sound. The joy of a Christmas card.

Take a look around and you will see,

What winter has to share. And at the end you may agree,

No other season can compare.

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A common sight every Christmas is old Saint Nicholas, in his red suit and cap. And while the image of the jolly Santa Claus with the long white beard, and the suit lined

with fur, has been around since the early 1800s, he was originally rarely shown in red. More often than not, Santa would be shown wearing a suit of green, blue, white, and on some occasions, purple.

Victorian Santa in white robes

Santa Claus, 1848

Originally, the coat was much longer, usually going down to around his ankles, or mid-calves. The fur that it been lined would have been something that looked like mink fur or beaver pelt. The first Santa Claus was modeled after Sinterklaas (Sint Nicolaas), from the Netherlands (back when New York was New Amsterdam), and he was slimmer than the Santa we know now. Nowadays, the jolly, robust icon of Santa Claus dressed in red that we know, really began as an advertisement marketing invention of Coca Cola in 1931, to solve the problem of low sales during the winter months, The advertising obviously worked, boosting their sales substantially. Now, over seventy years later, it is almost impossible to find an image of Santa without a suit of red and white. If you search for pictures of a Victorian Santa, or more accurately Saint Nicholas, you may find him in his original robes.

Coca-cola Santa, 1931

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As the holidays roll in, we start to see holiday movies on T.V. So if you check your TV Guide during the month of December, you are bound to see a couple dozen Christmas movies all being aired on the same night. Not only can you watch Christmas movies on TV, you can rent them from the video store or go to the movie theatre. So how are you going to know which movies to watch? To help you decide I’ve made a list of the top 10 Christmas movies – classic and new.

I. The Nightmare Before Christmas This movie is about when Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town and tries to put on Christmas instead of Halloween, but they can’t get it right. This is definitely one of my top picks for Christmas movies.

II. The Miracle on 34th Street

This is a classic Christmas movie. The movie is about a little girl named Susan who doesn’t believe in Santa. Kris Kringle is hired to play Santa Claus for a Christmas parade and believes he is Santa. He tries to convince Susan and many other people that he really is Santa. This movie is usually played on T.V a couple times over the holidays so make sure you check the guide.

III. A Charlie Brown Christmas Story

This is another classic Christmas movie. In this movie Charlie Brown complains about how materialistic Christmas has become. Lucy suggests that he becomes the director of the school Christmas pageant. He accepts but finds it frustrating. When Charlie Brown’s attempts to restore the proper spirit of Christmas fail, he needs Linus’ help to learn what the real meaning of Christmas is. This is a great movie that you can watch with the whole family.

IV. How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Everyone knows the story of the Grinch. He was rejected as a child and hated the citizens of Whoville for all of his life. He especially hated Christmas. When Cindy Lou Who’s attempt to have the Grinch join in on the Christmas festivities fails, the Grinch comes up with a scheme to ruin Christmas. There are a couple different versions of this movie, most are cartoons. So I recommend watching the ‘Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas’, it is the best out of all of them.

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V. The Santa Clause

This is a fun Christmas movie starring Tim Allen. It is about a man named Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) who becomes Santa Claus after putting on the real Santa’s jacket after he fell from the roof. After Scott grows a Santa-sized tummy and beard, friends, family and business associates begin to think that Scott has lost his marbles. That is, everyone except his son, Charlie, who thinks that he is perfect for the job. If you are looking to watch a couple of movies at once, I recommend renting The Santa Clause, The Santa Clause 2, and then going over to the theatre and watching The Santa Clause 3.

VI. Christmas with the Kranks

This movie is about two parents who decide to skip Christmas and spend it on a cruise when they find out that their daughter isn’t coming home for Christmas. They struggle to survive facing their neighbours, a house decorations contest and carolers. But when their daughter calls saying that she is coming home, the Kranks find out the true meaning of the Holiday Rush. This is another really good movie starring Tim Allen

VII. Unaccompanied Minors

If you are looking for a newer movie, I recommend Unaccompanied Minors. This movie is coming out in theatres on December 8, It is about a group of “unaccompanied minors” who bond while snowed in at an International Airport the day after Christmas, and, along the way, prove that the holidays aren’t about where you are, but who you’re with.

VIII. Home Alone

This movie is about 8-year-old Kevin, who is accidentally left behind while his family flies to France for Christmas. While his family is in France, Kevin has to defend his home against idiotic burglars. There are 2 other Home Alone movies but I personally think the original is the best.

IX. A Christmas Carol

There are many different versions of this movie, and many other movies that have adapted the story line. The original was based on the book by Charles Dickens. It is about a miserable money-lender, named Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by three spirits that try to change his attitude. This is a classic Christmas movie and is at the top of my Christmas movie list.

X. Eight Crazy Nights

I know, this isn’t exactly a Christmas movie but it is really funny and is ‘winter-themed’. It is about Davey Stone, a drunk, who gets the punishment of being a referee in training instead of 10 years in prison, for cheating a Chinese waiter. Like all of Adam Sandler’s movies, it is absolutely hilarious and although it isn’t exactly Christmas-themed, I still recommend you put it on your holiday movie-watching list.

I hope this list helped you decide which movies to watch over the winter break. Happy holidays and happy watching!

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HOLIDAY TRADITIONS Corrinne Brown

Holiday traditions—everybody has at least one, whether it be staying at home watching old movies or going to a family member’s house on Christmas Eve. It may just be a ritual of how you go about doing things around Christmas but no matter what, if you celebrate Christmas there is probably something you and your family always do. You shouldn’t take these traditions for granted, because one day they may end and you will regret not enjoying them while you could. Here are what some of you do during the holidays:

“Every year I go to my grandmother’s house on Christmas Eve and we have a prank Christmas gift game and we open presents. I also go to my other grandmother’s for Christmas day dinner.”

- C.B., grade 11

“Christmas at my house is pretty typical, just like most other people’s. A tradition we do have, though, is that every Christmas Eve evening each member of my family puts on a new pair of pajamas and we each open one gift.”

- B, grade 11

“Usually my family—the whole

neighbourhood, really—goes to church, and then my family heads to my aunt’s for a big family get together with cold cuts (turkey, of course) and games for the kids and stuff. From there we go to my neighbour’s house (where, surprise, surprise, a bunch of the neighbours are). Usually she has lasagna and a lot of junk food. After that, my family goes home and we open one gift each. Our Christmas the next day is quiet—we sit around with our presents and a couple of relatives come over for dinner.”

- A.D., grade 11

< Ben Johnstone

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RANTBOX POVERTY: THE CURABLE

PANDEMIC BRETON COUSINS

Here’s the difference between poverty and the average lethal illness: poverty can be cured. Sure, some illnesses can be cured too, but that’s not the point. The point is that you don’t need a medical degree to be able to help cure poverty. Poverty can be controlled to a point in which it won’t kill anybody. Anybody can help, and everybody should help, because living in poverty sucks. People living in poverty lack material needs like water, food, clothes and shelter. If they even have an income, it’s a very low one. Although “low income” would depend on the area in which the person lives (for example, it costs a lot more money to survive in NYC than it does to survive in somewhere like Mexico or Cuba), the person still lives in conditions that most urban people couldn’t imagine themselves in. Maybe we can’t imagine ourselves living in poverty because we don’t hear about it or see it very much. It is statistically proven than Canadians have one of the lowest poverty levels in the world, but, being the exceptional Canadians that we are, we need to realize that poverty is a big problem whether or not it’s affecting our own country as much as it is affecting the rest of the world. You may think you know what it’s like to live in poverty, but, unless you have experienced it, you really don’t. In 2001, estimates showed that 1.1 billion people consume less than one dollar a day in food and that 2.7 billion people consume less than two dollars a day in food. Only consuming two dollars a day isn’t the same as just being hungry. Consuming two dollars a day is unhealthy and fatal. Six million children under five die every year due to hunger. Poor nutrition leads to poor health. Simple treatable diseases like the measles, malaria, and diarrhea are the three biggest killers of children. Over thirty million children worldwide have not been immunized to treatable or preventable diseases like these ones. AIDS has killed more than 14 million orphans; ninety two percent of these victims lived in Africa. And there is, apparently, no help. In Canada, if you’re living in poverty, it’s not impossible to get a job. Sure, it’s harder when you’re living in poverty, but it’s not impossible. You can go to school and get some education. The government can fund you. When you were a child living in Canada, you had the right to go to school for free. In undeveloped countries in Africa and the like, children don’t have that opportunity. One hundred and thirty-four million children between the ages of seven to eighteen have never been to school. Education changes your life: for every year of education an African student

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living in poverty experiences, there’s an average increase in wages by ten percent. To top it all off, most areas that have high poverty levels are at war. Since 1996 over two million kids have died as a direct result of armed conflict. Children living in poverty are used: more than 300, 000 child soldiers are exploited in armed conflicts in over thirty countries. Child labour in undeveloped countries is booming: approximately 246 million children work, and 171 million children work in dangerous environments. Anyway, I hope you get the point. Poverty is a huge problem. It’s killing people everywhere. And it’s preventable. We can save ourselves. Here’s how: Whoever said that money can’t buy happiness didn’t live in poverty, because it can. I know that no one in Cape Breton has ten billion dollars as pocket change, but internationally, ten billion dollars isn’t that much money at all. Ten billion dollars would provide universal primary education. Children who have completed primary education are half as likely to contract HIV as those who are missing education, in turn, dropping 700, 000 cases of HIV each year. Seven hundred thousand lives are worth a lot more than ten billion dollars. Furthermore, if just one percent of the USA’s budget was donated for international support, we could prevent ten million children from becoming AIDS orphans. It could help 104 million children get to grade school, and provide 900 million people around the globe with water. Every three seconds a child dies from AIDS and extreme poverty. Medicine is expensive, and when 95% of the forty million people living with HIV/AIDS live in undeveloped countries, financial support is essential. It’s essential to save their lives. I hate government. Here’s why: the governments of many countries have made promises to help out third-world countries. However, under-developed countries live with millions of dollars of debt (debt that is owed to rich countries). Undeveloped countries with soaring poverty levels can’t afford streets, let alone millions of dollars in debt owed to ten or eleven countries. It’s not like the debt is ever going to get paid back. If the government of rich countries really wanted to help, they would cancel the debt they have over the undeveloped countries. It actually helps. In Benin, for example, when debt was relieved from them, fifty four percent of the money that was saved from the debt relief was spent on health care and HIV programs. In Uganda, thanks to debt relief, 2.2 million people gained access to clean water. By helping farmers in undeveloped countries grow better crops, we can save one in seven people from going to bed hungry each night. For a dollar a day, anyone can adopt an orphan from Africa or any undeveloped country. Before I conclude, I have to make reference to the fact that there are programs in place trying to save the world from poverty: The One Campaign, Make Poverty History, UNICEF, just to name a few. But these programs are sponsored by us, the people. There’s not enough help from the government. And, to officially conclude: when you go to your locker after school, realize that people living in poverty don’t have a school, let alone a locker. When you walk to your car to head home, realize that people living in poverty have neither a car nor a home to go to. When you sit down with your family and eat supper, realize that people living in poverty may not have family, and they most likely don’t have supper to eat either. And when you’re finished realizing all of that, realize that the world can be saved from poverty, and that it’s up to us to save it.

Head on over to www.makepovertyhistory.org to find out what you can do to help.

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NEWSBOX THE WAR AGAINST

TERROR, OR THE WAR OF TERROR?

BRETON COUSINS Here’s a thesis statement: war sucks and, quite frankly, there’s

almost nothing we (teenagers, or anyone from Sydney Mines for that matter) can do about it. Well, we can do something about it, just not individually. Sorry, I forgot – one person can make all the difference. I’m just being too skeptical and negative (or realistic). Silly me, of course one person can make all the difference! All you have to do is have your father become the president of the United States of America and, when he resigns, take his spot (or you could join the Taliban...). If anyone feels like doing that: go for it. Personally, I’m just going to stick with writing about war (and how much it sucks) in the school newspaper.

War is just one big death festival that the world seems to be indulging itself in and it’s not really getting us anywhere. Innocent people are dying; innocent families are losing their innocent parents or spouses. On the other hand, even when there wasn’t war in Afghanistan (believe it or not, there wasn’t always war in Afghanistan) innocent people still suffered from unnecessary death.

Personally, I’m not so sure that I agree that the War on Terror is a bad idea. I know, you’re probably all like “Oh no, war is horrible!” Yada, yada, I know. And you’re right, it is horrible, but the Taliban is horrible too and, without the ‘help’ of war, the situation in Afghanistan probably wouldn’t have gotten any better. It probably would have gotten a lot worse.

The Taliban was a group of mujahideen (which ironically means ‘freedom fighters’ or ‘holy warriors’) that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until they were dethroned in 2001 by U.S. forces and Afghani opposition. Under their rule, public executions and punishments, like flagellation (being whipped while being tied to a post), weren’t uncommon. Because the Taliban didn’t want any influence on their people from the outside world, the internet, music, television, and even kite flying were banned.

There’s more. Remember, this is real – as in this actually happened in 1996.

Just five years ago, in Afghanistan, men had to wear beards and if they didn’t they were beaten. Females weren’t allowed to (here’s a list):

Go to school Work outside their house Leave the house without a male with them Wear fingernail polish (if you did, you could say good-bye to your fingertips) Wear white Wear socks, white shoes, or shoes that make noise when walking

Also: Houses and building windows viewable to the public had to have their windows painted over if a female was present.

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In public, women had to be covered from head to toe in a burqa (a covering with only a small mesh opening to see and breathe through. This article isn’t about women’s rights, but imagine this: (if you’re a

guy, pretend you’re a female for a bit) You’re dying. Your father is ill and your brother is too young to accompany you in the streets. Without a male, you’re not allowed out of your house. You take a chance and run to the hospital (trying to see through and not trip over your body length burqa). You get to the hospital without getting shot or arrested or run over by a car, but it turns out there’s no female doctor to work on you, and you die.

Or try this: everyone knows how much toothaches hurt. If you don’t, you’re pretty darn lucky – they hurt. Anyway, you have a toothache and you go to a dentist office, and even if the male dentists decides to work on you, someone has to stand at the door as a lookout (in case someone sees the dentist lifting your veil). If you get caught, you will probably end up in prison with the dentist, after you’ve both been beaten.

Or maybe your daughter has a simple illness like diarrhea; you go to several hospitals, but no doctor will work on her. You could get a private doctor, but you can’t afford it. You lose your daughter.

Now, perhaps you wouldn’t even be able to leave the house. Burqas are expensive. Some tourists that go to Afghanistan are begged by Afghani women to send burqas so they can simply go outside and see the world.

Some Canadians would ask why such drastic measures were taken in Afghanistan. The reason is, of course, that all this was to keep Afghanistan’s precious women safe and honourable. At least that’s what the Taliban claimed. I should point out that the Taliban was strictly religious, and they did do some good for their people. They went so far as to set up educational programs for their children (which happened to be camps to prepare them for war).

And although women weren’t allowed to wear noisy shoes, terrorist organizations were allowed to organize camps in Afghanistan. The Taliban, it seemed, had a good relationship with Osama bin Laden. They provided refuge for him and his al-Qaeda organization. They were even kinsmen, and bin Laden reportedly financed the Taliban.

Really, I can’t say I know what it feels like to lose my father or my mother or my brother or my sister or my cousin or my whatever while he or she is fighting in a Middle Eastern country. I can’t say I know what it’s like to live in Afghanistan and risk having my fingertips chopped off if I wore nail polish, but I can imagine that both environments suck – hardcore.

Everyone is equal. Sure, some Middle Eastern groups threaten the world. Some Middle Eastern group may have hijacked planes and flown them into buildings and people may have died, but we (North Americans, Europeans, Westerners in general, whatever) are not perfect either. It’s true that American soldiers killed a seventy-year-old man by putting a bag over his head to detain him (I guess that seventy year old man still had a lot of kick in him, needing to be detained with a bag and all…). In Abu Ghraib, Iraqi prisoners were tortured by American ‘soldiers’. I’m not going to get into detail with the Abu Ghraib episode (because I’ll just get real cranky) but you can check it out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_prisoner_abuse, because I think it’s important that you see what Americans have done to Middle Eastern people.

Every Canadian or American or British death is just as important to remember as every Pakistani or Iraqi or Afghani death. How often do you see pictures of Iraqi civilians who were innocently murdered during the credits of some morning talk shows? Never. It’s always the innocent American soldiers (who just happen to be dressed in camouflage and have semi automatic guns attached to their belts …).

Can you believe it? Someone is having pity on the Middle Eastern people! They deserve pity too. It’s safe to say we’re giving pity to our soldiers; as a society, we’re thankful for what they’re doing for us. As a society, are we

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pitying Middle Eastern people? I don’t think so. Considering there are lot more Middle Eastern people who have died than Europeans/North American people, you’d think there would be more recognition. For effect, I demand you to go to this website: http://www.iraqbodycount.org/. And because most of you won’t: at most, 52 920 (at least: 47 867) Iraqi civilians have died due to military force since 2001.

Do I think the war is a good thing? I don’t know. I think it would be best if we had just had Utopia since forever and didn’t have to worry about going on a death binge to try and achieve it. But that’s not realistic. People have died; people are dieing, and people will continue to die for war. Whether this war is for the safety of Americans or the safety of Middle Eastern civilians, or for both, you should keep in mind that in order to make things better, as a society we’re going to have to go through some hard times. Afghani women wouldn’t be able to walk the streets freely if someone didn’t die for them. Who, exactly, will die for them, though, is our own personal choice. Canadian civilians aren’t forced to join the militia; to go to war. They choose to risk their lives for whatever reason they may have for doing so. Speaking for myself, if my life could free a dozen Middle Eastern people of the tragedy that they’re going through right now, they could have it – no question.

WHAT YOU THINK about the war in Afghanistan “I don’t really pay much attention to the “war” and the like, it’s too depressing. Too many people are dying over senseless causes. To me, this war is insane. I just hope that no other countries become involved, because if they do, and nuclear war occurs, I believe that it is very likely the planet will self-destruct.” Jeremy, grade 11 “Why get other countries involved? Canadian troops are now only “peacekeeping” in Afghanistan and we’ve still lost 44 troops over there. My opinion? Why bother trying to make peace in a country/area that will never have peace? Take our troops out or let them fight for themselves. Why risk Canadian lives when there’s no point?” K.H., grade 11 “I think countries should pay attention to what is going on in their own land. Other places can deal with their own problems.” Anonymous “I can’t say the war is a bad thing but I cannot say it is good either. I believe that the outcome of war is terrible for both sides—we lose lives, they lose lives, nobody wins. They fight for what they believe in, we fight for our rights. Although right now we are fighting for the overthrow of terrorism and that is a true fight. I do hope it stops soon.” C.B., grade 11 “I don’t think war is ever good and I don’t think it should be necessary. I used to be completely against us being in Afghanistan. However, when I was in Ottawa we had the opportunity to hear from a Canadian soldier who had been to Afghanistan, and he told us that people in Afghanistan are happy that the Canadian troops are over there protecting them. They want us to stay because they are so scared of the Taliban. The Taliban is, even if it’s not in power anymore, an ever-present figure in the minds of native Afghanis, looming over their future and their enjoyment of freedom. I would be happier if Canadians were not involved, but I realize now that they are doing good work. I realize that if the Canadians and Americans left, the Taliban would take over again and Afghanistan would again be a miserable country. They’re not ready to be independent quite yet. They still need some help along the way, and I’m proud of Canada for helping.” Amy

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WHERE THE WORLD MEETS AMY DONOVAN

Canada is a multicultural country. We are open-minded. We accept differences. We ARE different.

If you guys have had classes anything like mine throughout school, you’ve been hearing that mantra for your entire life, at least the first sentence of it. Again, if your classes have been anything like mine, you have had only a vague idea of what that really means. Personally, I didn’t grasp the meaning of it until a couple weeks ago, when I spent a week in Ottawa for Encounters with Canada (which is actually now known as Historica Encounters). For those of you who don’t know about it, this program brings kids from the ages of 14-17 from all across the country together to learn about their country and about a particular sub-theme of their choice. (Mine was Arts & Culture.) Anyone who hasn’t looked into this program yet should definitely check it out, because it’s an amazing experience. Ottawa is a beautiful city and I made some awesome friends I will never forget. Anyway, I could ramble on about my Encounters week forever, but I won’t.

The point to that story was that for six days, I lived with 120 kids from the Atlantic to Vancouver to the Yukon (which was quite well-represented by one young man from Dawson City). And I discovered this: the rest of Canada is not at all like Cape Breton or Sydney Mines. I had known this before, like a vague myth that I had never really experienced. Now, though, I realize that, in Canada, we are not all Christian; we are not all white; we don’t all conform to one style of fashion; and we certainly do not all speak English. I hung out with a guy from India (who did speak very good, if very strongly accented, English). His (former, I believe) religion was Hindu, which, before, I knew virtually nothing about. I had never even met anyone who had ever practiced it. Likewise, he was not quite used to Western customs—like the high five. I held out my hand to him once, expecting it to be slapped, and instead, it was shook. I laughed (he didn’t know why), but I felt bad later. Why should I have expected someone from another country to understand that tradition, just because he now resided in my country?

The answer is—because I’m from Cape Breton and around here, we are, culturally anyway, anything but diverse. There is no other reason than that. I should not have expected him to adhere to our traditions because I should have remembered that Canada is a multicultural country and we accept differences. An interesting thing about this is that in some other countries, they don’t accept differences. There are places in Israel (this info was obtained from the quite reliable source of the Maverick’s teacher advisor, who visited there last summer) where women have to wear headscarves even if they are Christian Westerners. I think I can safely say that this kind of rule would never be implemented—that this would never happen—in Canada. We would never force foreigners to adhere to the rules of a religion that was not their own—and that’s a good thing.

I read a story in a magazine awhile ago about a teenage Muslim girl who lived in France. Her school implemented a policy that religious symbols (i.e., crosses, pentagrams, and so on and so forth) were not permitted in school so that everybody could be considered equal and nobody would feel offended, left out, or the like. Fundamentally, this is a good policy to have at a school, especially a large one,, and it probably worked—until the day that this Muslim girl was told she wasn’t allowed to wear her headscarf to school because it was a religious symbol. Now, Muslims believe that it’s wrong for a woman to show her hair in public (or something along those lines, I’m not pretending to be an expert on this subject). The girl took her case to court—and lost. She got around the school’s policy by shaving her head, but I don’t think she should

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have had to take such drastic measures. I don’t think the school should have minded about her headscarf. I understand that schools shouldn’t push a certain religion on students and I understand that students shouldn’t push their religions on each other. But for a school to try to force a student to go against her religion—I think that’s wrong. I also think I can safely say that this, too, would never happen in Canada. Why? Because we believe in embracing our diversity, not in trying to pretend it doesn’t exist.

Now, I am fairly certain that the reason for Canada’s multicultural roots is obvious: everyone who lives here can trace their ancestors back to immigrants (yepp, even First Nations people, which fun fact those who have taken Canadian History or who paid a little bit of attention in their junior high socials class will already know). My family has been here for a couple of generations at least on both sides, but I am, in ancestry, European. Canada still takes in 200 000 immigrants a year, but there are far more Asian immigrants today than European immigrants. And, closer to home, in the past we’ve had tons of Americans (in particular, civil war refugees and draft dodgers) and South Americans who have chosen to make Canada their home. In short, this country is made up of about a million different “cultures,” and we’re still counting.

We also have had, since 1971, a Multiculturalism Policy that challenges Canadians not only to accept cultural diversity and to learn about other cultures, but to actively make their own cultures a part of Canadian society. About a dollar of every taxpayer’s money goes towards promoting this policy each year—a grand annual total of over $30 million, and it’s money well-spent. It’s true that in cities and even in larger provinces, Canada really is multicultural, and its citizens know it. But here in Cape Breton, a huge percentage of the population is English-speaking, Caucasian, and baptized Christian (usually, Catholic). We have our minorities, but aside from African-Canadians in Sydney, we don’t see much of them. French Cape Bretoners are confined to their own communities. First Nations people generally live and go to school on the reservations, and so we at MHS don’t know or understand their culture either.

How, then, do you bring a national multiculturalism policy to a population that, though it’s not overtly racist or adverse to learning about other cultures or mingling with people from them, basically does not see other cultures at all?

I guess the answer is, you really don’t.

Is this good? That’s for you to decide. Just wait until you go to Toronto someday and try to hold a Christmas concert.

Alysha Cantwell

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LUKE a short story by

MITCH JOHNSTON 1

Luke Redden awoke with a growling stomach and got out of bed, quietly, to avoid disturbing his parents. He checked the alarm clock on the night table beside his bed and saw that it was already seven-thirty. If he did not hurry he would be late for school.

Luke tiptoed out of his room, cringing as his bare feet landed on the cold hardwood in the upstairs hallway. He stepped as lightly as he could, but the boards creaked anyway; at five feet tall and weighing one hundred thirty pounds, Luke was easily the biggest kid in grade five. His foot landed on a board that was especially rotted and he winced as it cried out in protest. There followed a moment where he was sure his father would wake up and come out, yelling and grunting and chasing after Luke in a drunken shamble. It didn't matter to Luke's father that it was only half past seven in the morning; he drank often, and didn't allow for such vices as the clock. Or Luke's mother. Or Luke. Sometimes, when Mr. Redden was especially bombed, usually not off beer but off the clear stuff in the cupboard above the microwave, his fists would start flying. Luke tried to be out of the house during those times.

The moment passed and for all Luke knew his father remained asleep. He continued down the hall, made his way down the stairs, into the kitchen. He poured himself a bowl of Cheerios and a glass of orange juice, and ate watching the morning news, as he always did.

A reporter in a sleek black suit was standing by a convenience store that Luke quickly recognized as Vic's Quick Stop, which was owned by an old man who, for some reason, liked having Luke around. Luke didn't understand this, and nor was he used to it. No one else liked having him around, not at school, not at home, not anywhere.

Of course, there were other reasons for that. In reality, it would have been foolish not to take advantage of one's size in Luke's situation. He was the fiercest bully on the

school ground, and he collected an average often dollars a day in lunch money. Even the sixth and seventh graders are scared of me, Luke thought with pride. He had learned early on the tricks of his trade, how to threaten, how to hit, how to run when the time came, and it did come, to get the hell outta Dodge. And Luke was good: his parents never suspected a thing—most of his teachers didn't even suspect a thing.

Once Luke had knocked a second grader clear off the jungle gym and down onto the gravel, six feet below. He had broken two ribs and a wrist, and for the next month had come to school wearing a white plastic vest. Another time Luke had kicked a seventh grader so hard between the legs that the boy had peed blood for two days. There were many other "incidents," as he called them, so many that Luke couldn't remember them all.

The reporter was talking about Victor Jennings, the owner of Vic's Quick Stop, and as Luke watched he felt a sinking feeling in his gut. Vic had gone missing. The reporter said that there was evidence of foul play. Luke didn't fully understand what that meant, but he had watched enough of 60 Minutes to know that when someone "Went Missing" and there was evidence of "Foul Play," that someone usually turned up in a river somewhere. His heart went out to Vic, who had understood him, even respected him. Luke stole from kids, from malls, even from restaurants, but he had never stolen from Vic Jennings.

The camera switched to Vic's wife, who was crying into the shoulder of another elderly woman, a sister, maybe, or a cousin. Luke got up, feeling a little sick, and headed upstairs to shower and get dressed. Halfway up the stairs he realized he could still hear the television, so he went back down to turn it off. Mr. Redden would be angry if he discovered someone had left the TV on.

"Coors, the silver bullet," a deep voice said, and Luke thumbed the power button on the remote. Just my luck that it's a beer commercial, Luke thought. The thought of liquor made him think of his father, and he felt a little sicker.

Luke hurried upstairs, not bothering to tiptoe, and went into his room to get dressed and ready. He paused for a moment, his shirt off, and looked at himself in the mirror. He was already developing, especially in the chest area. Luke expected that in a year or so the grade eights and nines would be afraid of him, maybe even the tens. Maybe even the teachers, he thought, suppressing a smile.

Luke gathered his things, packed his book bag, picked out a faded T-shirt and jeans, jammed a black Nike baseball cap on his curly brown head. He was almost out of his room when he realized he had forgotten to pack his English assignment. He grabbed it from the desk and placed it carefully among his books, not wanting to wrinkle the pages. His English teacher was an old crone who would land a harsh blow with the ruler on the hands of any student who passed in something that had been wrinkled. Luke sometimes wanted to bully her, but that would be against the rules. He never bullied girls. That was the Bully Code of Conduct.

Luke ran down the stairs, jumped into his sneakers, threw on a fall jacket on as he did so, and left the house. His parents, convalescing from a bout of Sunday night drinking, lay in bed, sound asleep, not stirring.

2

Luke decided, after five minutes of walking, that if he was going to be late for school, he might as well enjoy the day. It was a crisp October morning, a postcard morning, the sky a clear, stern blue, the leaves on the tall oaks a plethora of green, red, shades of orange and yellow. The sun sat low in a bed of clouds near the horizon. Near the top of the sky stood the moon like a coin in mid-flip, still bright from the night before. Cars zipped by and the leaves on the road wafted up into the air, stirred from their slumber on the pavement. Luke walked down the street, a happy kid with rosy cheeks and a tingling nose. He lived for these mornings. On mornings

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like these, his hands would grow numb in minutes, and he would be able to punch longer, without tiring. Little kids were also slower when it was cold out, and even the swiftest of them wouldn't be able to outrun Luke.

He made his way through the maze-like subdivision and into the downtown area, meaning to stop by Vic's store on his way. He felt mixed emotions about going there; sadness for Vic and his wife, excitement at the opportunity to maybe see cops at work, guilt for having said excitement. As he cut through an alley and came out onto another street he saw police tape covering Vic's door. An unmarked white car was parked by the curb, and two cops in uniform were talking in front of the store window. Luke looked both ways and crossed the street.

"Did you know this man?" the first cop asked. "Yeah," Luke said. "I came here a lot. Is he going to be all right?" "We're still looking," the second cop said. "There are some bad people on the loose around town." Luke knew about this. He had seen it on the evening news. Someone was kidnapping residents of one of the foster

homes on the edge of town. There had been three kidnappings so far, and two false arrests. The first cop leaned down and looked Luke in the eyes. "Son, did you ever see anyone suspicious in Mr. Jennings' store?

Anyone you didn't recognize around town?" Luke shook his head. In a town with only two thousand people, you got to know everyone fairly quickly. Strangers and tourists

stuck out like sore thumbs. The cop nodded and patted Luke on the shoulder. "Well, thanks anyway, son. Run along now, else you'll be late for school." Luke stayed for a moment, looking at the police tape over the front door, peeking in the front window at the rows of canned

goods, chips, pop. He hoped that Vic would be found soon. Luke kept walking up the street, and he was so distracted by thoughts of his missing friend that he almost didn't hear the voice

when it spoke to him. "Luke." He stopped on the spot, whirling around. "In the alley, Luke," the voice said, and Luke looked behind him, at a wide, dark alley. The buildings on each side had overhangs

on their roofs, so that very little of the morning sun's light could reach the bottom. He backed up a couple of steps, saw a dumpster, a pile of garbage bags. One of the bags shifted and for a moment Luke was afraid. Then a rat revealed itself from under the garbage, crawling out onto the sidewalk and sniffing the air.

"Who is it?" Luke asked. "Is this some kind of joke?" "No joke, kid," the voice said. "Now get over here." The speaker sounded oddly familiar. Luke found himself curious. He was

walking toward the alleyway before he knew his legs were moving, and when he stepped into the shadows and saw the speaker, he was disappointed. A bum sat behind the dumpster, heavily bearded, a bottle of something dark and putrid in one filthy bandaged hand.

"Old friends, Luke," the bum said. "That's what we are." "How do you know my name?" Luke asked. Hoboes were not mentioned in the Bully Code of Conduct. Maybe today he would

try one out, see how things went. The idea was very attractive to Luke; no one cared for bums, and they would be a good way to let off some steam.

"Come closer," the bum said. Luke stepped closer, smelled something earthy and bland. Now it was not just the bum's voice that seemed familiar; there was something about the shape of his face, his low-browed, twinkling eyes.

"Vic?" Luke asked. "Mr. Jennings, is that you?" "Yes, Luke," Vic replied, smiling his wise old man smile. Luke noticed that the old man's teeth were yellow and crooked. "People are looking for you," Luke said. "I think your wife was on television today." "I'll get back to her," Vic said. "I've just been busy these last few days. Taking care of some old business. I guess you don't

understand that yet, Luke, but when you get to be my age you start to think about the past an awful lot. And sometimes, your past comes back to you." He stopped talking long enough to take a bite of a greasy chicken leg concealed under his torn parka. "That's something you can take to the bank, kid. Sometimes the past comes back."

"So you spent your past in a dumpster?" Luke asked. "Good one," Vic replied, although he didn't laugh, but rather leaned back and looked at the thin stream of blue sky

between the two overhanging roofs. "Mr. Jennings, I think you need to shave," Luke said. "Your beard's getting all bushy." "Well I was hairy when I was younger," Vic snapped. Luke stepped back, shocked and hurt by the sharpness of the man's tone.

He had never been spoken to by Mr. Jennings like that before. "Hey, I'm sorry," Vic said, holding out a hand. "Tell ya what, Luke. We'll shake on that. To my forgiveness. What do you

say?" Luke shook his hand. "1 have to go," he told Vic. "I'm already late for school." He had been late before entering the alley

anyway, but he felt the need for this lie. Something in Mr. Jennings' eyes filled him with unease. They gleamed like cut gems in the dim light.

"Wanna see a trick, kid?" Vic asked, in a voice at least an octave lower than it had been a moment ago. "Something I learned a while back." His voice seemed rougher now, too, almost ragged.

"Um, sure," Luke said. "Like what, a magic trick?" "Sure, what the hell," Vic said. "Come here close. It's hard to see if you don't pay attention."

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Luke leaned closer, and he realized that Mr. Jennings' eyes were now a decayed yellow, like old newspaper. They were also bloodshot, and Luke knew then that his favorite convenience store owner was drunk. It explained the disappearance, the beard, the stink, and even the eyes, if he had drunk hard enough. Vic Jennings had gone on what Luke's father referred to as a "Bender."

Then something happened that didn't make sense. Vic raised his bandaged hand and flicked his wrist in front of Luke's face. Out of each fingertip poked a long, black claw, each about as thick as Luke's pinky finger. Then Vic flicked his wrist again and they were gone.

Luke recoiled as if struck. "Stay the hell away from me," he said, his voice trembling. "Hey, it was just a joke, Luke," Vic said. "They aren't real, look." He removed the bandages from his hand, then the hand itself.

Another, slightly cleaner hand poked out of the arm of his jacket. Vic tossed Luke the prop. "I think it's from one of those 80's horror flicks. Neat, huh?"

Luke turned the prop over in his hand. It had looked so real in the dim light, but now he could see the wires near the palm, the spring which controlled the claws. "You have a weird sense of humor," Luke said.

"It's not for everyone," Vic agreed. Luke threw him the fake hand; Vic caught it without even looking, his hand a darting blur. Luke was surprised that a man so old could move so fast.

"I gotta go," Luke said. "Come back later," Vic replied. "Maybe on your way home from school. I miss seeing you around. Hell, I'll tell you what. You

come by later, I'll let you walk me back home. I should be good and drunk by then, so you can say you found me in the woods or something. You'll be on television and everything. Sound good?"

It sounded more than good to Luke. "Yeah, sure," he said, barely able to conceal his excitement. "Great," Vic said. "See you tonight, then." Luke ran the rest of the way to school, a smile on his face.

3

That day at school proved to be very productive. As if energized by the promise of local fame, Luke worked better than ever before. He was given a late slip and sent to

English class, where he passed in his assignment and waited eagerly for recess. During recess he bullied five grade twos—a personal record. By the time school was out he had gathered almost twenty dollars in change, and had not been caught once. In the office, his hand shaking, he called his mother and told her that he was going to the arcade after school with Shane Miller. Shane was a made-up character, designed to fool Luke's parents—the boy had no real friends.

He stayed at the arcade until well after five, then stopped at the deli and bought a slice of pizza and a Coke, which he ate contentedly out on the curb. Then he went back to the arcade with the tokens he had won from before and continued playing games. When he was out of tokens he bullied several of the kids in the arcade for quarters, which they gave to him without protest. He had quite the reputation.

Finally, at a quarter to eight, he left for home. There was still ten dollars of change in his pocket; it jingled and jangled as he walked.

4

Luke passed the alley on his way home, and he noticed the moon was still out, like a dime suspended in a sea of blue. He heard a voice again, but this time it was joined by another, and neither person was speaking to him. He peered into

the alley, saw silhouettes of two people down past the garbage, near an old streetlight and an oil drum. One man pushed the other.

"Give me your money," the pusher said. As Luke watched the scene unfold, he realized another semi-opposite: For the first time in his life, outside of his home,

he was a spectator instead of a bully. At least I'm not a victim, he thought. The darkening sky reminded him that he had to get home but Luke didn't want to leave. He wanted to see where this

ended up. Part of him was disappointed—this is your future, that part was saying, but another part was excited at getting to maybe see some action. Older bullies were more serious than Luke. Some of them carried weapons.

As if in sync with Luke's thoughts the pusher drew a knife and held it high, so that it caught the glare of the streetlight and threw it into Luke's eyes. "I'm warning you," the pusher said. "I want your money, now."

The victim pleaded, and Luke took it all in, grinning. He was still grinning with anticipation when the pusher swung the blade down and sunk it in the victim's shoulder. The grin disappeared like smoke, and Luke ducked down, barely able to keep a cry of surprise from escaping his mouth. One knee landed on a busted wine bottle and flares of pain shot through his leg.

The victim screamed and fell back, and then the pusher was on him, snarling, growling, and making dozens of other noises which Luke found odd, considering the situation. Of course, very little was mundane about this situation. Comprehension flooded Luke's mind like a breaking dam. Oh my God, he thought. I just saw someone get murdered.

In the back of his mind, a detached voice said, gleefully, That's your future! No, he thought. He bullied for fun, but nothing seemed fun about this. "No," he said aloud. "I won't ever do anything that

bad." Sure, the voice in his head replied. That's what Ted Bundy used to say when he tortured his sister's Barbie dolls. Here's where

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you 're headed, kiddo. Take a look. He took a look. The killer stood up, brushed himself off, returned the knife to some hidden pocket. Luke decided that he didn't

want to bully anymore. When the killer bent down to strip the body of valuables Luke stood up, his knees shaking. Other noises came from the killer as he hunched over the body, but Luke did not recognize them and so his mind blocked them out. He turned to run away.

The change in his pants pockets jangled. He saw the killer's head dart in his direction, and he knew it was too late even before the figure started running toward him.

Luke sprinted but it was no use—the killer grabbed the collar of his jacket before Luke had been able to manage ten steps and pulled him back into the alley.

Luke was thrown onto the ground. He put his hands up, trembling with fear. "Not my future," he said. "Oh please no, don't kill me, I'm sorry, 1 won't do it again, I—"

"Shut up, kid," the killer said, lowering his hood. "Mr. Jennings?" Luke asked. "Yeah, it's me. Now are you going to keep quiet or what?" "Why did you—" Luke looked down, afraid to meet Vic's eyes. "You killed someone." "That guy owed me a lot of money," Vic replied. "You should run along, Luke. You don't want to be here." "What was his name?" Luke asked. In the absence of a rational environment he had resorted to interrogation to try and piece

together what had just happened. "I don't know." "How much money did he owe you?" Luke asked. "Never mind," Vic said. "Tell you what. You can take me home now. I'm plum tuckered." "You killed a man," Luke repeated. His fears had evaporated; after all, this was Mr. Jennings, not some nut. "For the love of God, Luke, shut up," Vic said. "Take me home. I feel drunk." Vic began to cough. He doubled over, wheezing,

and making another noise, a harsh, feral noise, like a growl. A question floated to Luke's lips and was out before he could hold it back. "Did you bite that man, Mr. Jennings? I thought I

heard a weird sound, like someone eating something." "Just some chicken, kid," Vic said, holding up a bone that had been picked clean. "He took my chicken, so I killed him. Does that

answer all your questions?" Luke stood up, brushed himself off. Part of him wanted to be afraid, needed the emotion, but he wouldn't allow it. This was an

old friend. He would bring Mr. Jennings back to his wife and maybe even get on television. A car went by, and the headlights washed over Vic for a moment, just long enough so that Luke noticed something different.

Vic seemed shorter, wider. His beard had almost doubled in length since this morning. His eyes were still a rheumy yellow, but didn't the eyebrows above them seem thicker? Fuller?

"Hey, kid," Vic said in a low voice. "Wanna see a trick?" He reached into his coat, threw the clawed hand prop from earlier on the ground. Then he held up his hand. Bandages covered it, and in what light was left in the sky Luke could make out dark spots, as if Vic had been bleeding. Vic flicked his wrist, and out of each fingertip poked a long, black claw. Luke saw that the part of Vic's hand that wasn't covered in bandages was instead covered in thick, coarse hair.

Luke gulped. If this was another prop, it was a good one. "That's great, Mr. Jennings. But I have to go, my parents are expecting me home. I'll be late for dinner."

Vic lips pulled back in a smile, revealing two rows of black, shining teeth, each half as long as the claws on his hands. Another car passed by, and in the resulting wash of light Luke saw hair sprouting out of Vic's forehead, face, neck. It was as thick and as coarse as fur. Vic's mouth and nose seemed to be falling, somehow, as if they were being pulled out and down. His face lengthened into a snout; his nose became black and wet. Muscles bulged under his coat, and he busted out of the seams, misshapen, bent, and hairy. Vic Jennings fell down on all fours. Luke saw the monster open its mouth, smelled a mixture of meat and death.

"Dinnertime, Luke," the wolf growled. Luke looked at its eyes, rheumy yellow, laughing, insane, and decided that this was one of those times when he should get the hell outta Dodge.

Luke Redden jumped to the side and narrowly avoided being filleted by a furry clawed hand. He darted out of the alley, out onto the sidewalk, which he found deserted. The full moon shone down on him, illuminating the street.

The monster reached out and caught in its claws Luke's ankle. It pulled back, and Luke tripped, falling onto the concrete and cracking his skull on the curb. When he died he was looking at the full moon, shining in the night like a silver dollar in mid-flip, heads or tails, live or die.

The thing which had been Vic Jennings pulled Luke's body back into the alley. And dined.

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THE MAVERICK’S REVIEW CORNER

MOVIES EDWARD SCISSORHANDS

REVIEW BY SARAH MARY MACDONALD Directed by Tim Burton

Starring Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Vincent Price Tagline: The Story of An Uncommonly Gentle Man

Peg Boggs is the local Avon lady. One morning, after going door to door to every house in her neighbourhood (and getting the door slammed in her face practically every time), she decides to see if there is anyone to sell to in the “House on the Hill.” When she gets there, she meets a boy named Edward whom she decides to take home with her. Edward was the creation of an inventor, played by Vincent Price. Edward, who’d started out as a salad cutting machine, had scissors for hands because the Inventor had died before being able to give him real hands. He has trouble adjusting to normal life at first, for he’s not used to things like clothes and waterbeds. But his hands worked wonders when he cut the hedges. His topiary masterpieces made him very popular with the neighbours (more specifically, the women), all except for the highly religious Esmeralda, who claimed that Edward was evil. Although most women had their eyes on Edward, he had his eyes on Kim, the teenaged daughter of Peg, and would do anything for her. This fact eventually cause the whole neighbourhood to turn on him. At the Christmas season, instead of cutting the hedges into beautiful figures, Edward starts to carve blocks of ice instead. While carving and angel out of ice, he accidentally cuts Kim’s palm. This starts an altercation with Kim’s boyfriend, Kevin. Edward decides to run back to his home to avoid any violence. Shortly after, the neighbours turn into a mob, and together march up to the house on the hill, in a similar style to the villagers in Frankenstein …

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BOOKS THE TALE OF THE BODY THEIF

BY ANNE RICE REVIEW BY THE AUTHOR

Hi. The Vampire Lestat here. You all know me, right? I am the 200-year-old vampire, six feet tall with beautiful blond hair, amazing blue eyes, and, not to mention, an irresistible smile. I'm the James Bond of Vampires. The one that 'looks like an angel and talks like a gangster'. The Brat Prince. The one that both men and women would die for—literally. I can't tell you how many times I've heard humans say to me, "Oh, right here, Lestat!"," Drink from me, Lestat!" and, "Kill me, Lestat, kill me!" I've heard them all, and trust me, I do it too. But that's not why I'm here now, is it? No, of course not. I'm here because the Holiday Season is fast approaching, and you have yet to find a present for your friend. I am here to tell you about one of my books. Not my newest one, mind you, but actually the one I wrote in the early 90's. The Tale of the Body Thief, it's called.

The book starts off in Miami, where I am on the hunt, my first kill after Lent. The local newspapers were calling him the Back Street Strangler. Well...actually, now that I think of it, it doesn't seem too important to talk of him. Or of my suicide attempt in the middle of the Gobi Desert. The real story is about my dreams of Claudia, and my longing to be human again, and meeting up with a man by the name of Raglan James, a former member of the Talamasca, but who was – oh ... let me side track for just a moment. For those of you unfamiliar with my chronicles. The Talamasca, my dear readers, is what one would call a "Secret Society", which keep track of the paranormal. You know, witches, werewolves, vampires, and all that jazz. Anyway...what was I talking about?...Oh, yes. James.

James was kicked out of the Talamasca for constant stealing. Anyway, this man, Raglan James had the ability to change bodies. He had done it several years before when his original body had been dying of cancer. He approached me in on in the body of a young man. It was too good. He offered me a chance to spend several days as a human, while he got several days as a vampire. How could I pass that up? Well, I'll tell you. I didn't. And it had to be one of the stupidest things I have ever done. Now, don't get me wrong. I loved that I was able to walk in the sunlight. That had to be one of the only things I did like. I almost died several times in just a short amount of time. Almost choking on food, drowning while drinking wine, freezing to death in the snow, getting a fever. Imagine it. Me! Being laid up in the hospital because of a fever! To make it worse, I went to Louis, my beloved fledgling, my beautiful one for help. And what does he do? He tries to kill me! After we establish that it was me in the body of another, I try to explain to him that James has no intention of giving my body back. I told him that in order for me to get my body back, he'd have to make me a vampire. But noooooo. Louis has to be all philosophical: "But can't you see what's happened? Lestat, you have done it. You have been reborn a mortal man." Well. I fixed his little red wagon. Haha. Anyway, no vampire came to my aid, but thank my lucky stars, David did.

David Talbot, the Superior General of the Talamasca. David, my beautiful, lovely, wonderful David. I had never been so happy to see a mortal in my entire 200 years of life. Oh, but he had some bad news. It appeared that James, in my body, had brutally killed and robbed a number of people, one of whom happened to be an agent of mine. But David found a pattern in these

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killings. All of the cities these attacks were in were stops for the QEII. Apparently James hasn't figured out how to fly in my body, so he was traveling by ship. It was easy enough to get tickets and fake passports. We had everything planned out. I was going to change bodies with James, then David would shoot James, to give us time to get away before he had a chance to change bodies again. Well, I had to leave immediately after getting my body back to avoid the sunlight. But the following evening, I asked a steward what had happened. Apparently David had tried to shoot James, but James had gotten away. David had claimed it was self-defense, so no police had gotten involved. Shortly after David comes to me, saying that he had changed his mind about receiving the Dark Gift, which I had offered him a few years before (Something my beloved fans would know), but as it turns out, it wasn't David after all...

I am afraid, dear readers, that I cannot tell you more than that. You will have to read my book to find out what happens.

MUSIC AFI: THEY’RE BRINGING MUSIC

BACK … YEAH! TYLER HYDE

Davey Havok, Adam Carson, Hunter Burgan, and Jade Puget are the combined talents that make up AFI or ‘A Fire Inside’. However, this band is not just a band, it’s a community. Many people find amenity in the dark lyrical poetry that make up the majority of their songs. A lot of these people are members of the AFI community, which can be better defined as ‘The Despair Faction’ aka the official AFI fan club.

AFI has been a band since 1991, with seven full length albums under their

belts. However, AFI had maintained a relatively low key image up until their 2003 album ‘Sing the Sorrow’, which was comprised of numerous radio and television hits like ‘Girl’s Not Grey’, ‘Silver and Cold’, and ‘Bleed Black.’ Three years and 100 songs later (only 12 of the 100 songs written were used), in the summer of 2006, AFI released their seventh album, ‘decemberunderground’, which features their most recent hits ‘Miss Murder’ and ‘Love Like Winter.’

‘decemberunderground’ is a made up of twelve unique songs, clearly influenced by bands like Queen, The Cure and Duran, Duran. AFI have raised

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the bar once again with their new album, and have transformed their sound completely. Techno riffs and harmonic power ballads are laced all throughout this album, a far cry from AFI’s early albums which are more relatable to bands

like Nine Inch Nails and Tiger Army. Yet despite the drastic changes AFI’s music has gone through, they manage to hold on to the loyalty of their old fans while picking up masses of new fans at the same time. Not all bands are able to do that, so there really must be something special about AFI—and there commonly is, but that is something that one must discover for themselves because many different people are

attracted to AFI for many different reasons. The genre of AFI is really up for interpretation. They’ve been called a

lot of things, punk mostly, but more recently they’ve been classified as goth-punk, modern rock, and alternative. But perhaps AFI does not belong to any certain genre. AFI is, well, AFI. There is no other band like them.

To find out more about AFI you can visit their webpage, www.afireinside.net, or you can pick up their new album ‘decemberunderground’ which has been in stores since June 6th.

NEVER HEAR THE END OF IT SLOAN

REVIEW BY AMY DONOVAN So we all know that Sloan is an awesome band, right? Their new CD, Never Hear the End of It, is made up of 30 songs, some of which are very short but still fabulous indeed. I am here to tell you all that I just bought this new CD and it is AMAZING (as was expected, by me at least). The lyrics are thought-provoking and filled with emotion on the subjects of love, loss, trust and loss of trust, confusion, the passage of time … “Right or Wrong” puts forth new ideas about this eternal question, while “See In Motion” made me think about the question the songwriter asks himself, and that is: If my life were made into a movie, would it be interesting? Would I admire me as a character? Would it be worth producing? It’s an interesting question for sure, and I think that a lot of us could do with living life thinking about this. “If my life were a movie, would I be proud of me?” Meanwhile, “Will I Belong” talks about the fact that everybody thinks about this every day. Do we belong? Should we? Have we ever really? Another song states, “Living with the masses / Will always get you down.” (And maybe that’s true). Anyway, the point of this useless rambling about songs on a CD a lot of you have never heard was supposed to get me back to this point: Sloan is a great band; their sound is new and cool even though as a band they’ve been around for awhile; and you should all buy this CD because you know what, it would be TOTALLY worth it even to just read the lyrics. (Which I know you could get at any number of free websites, but there comes a time in life where I, at least, want to do things the legal way … sometimes.)

“Maybe I can make it happen …

Live the life you’re dreaming of." — Live the Life You’re Dreaming Of, Sloan

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Hey sports fans, Canada’s Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball team won the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award on November 21, 2006. Morneau hit sensationally for the Twins, who really got on a roll after Morneau started heating it up, and eventually stole the American League Central Division from the Detroit Tigers on the last day of the regular season. Morneau defeated formidable candidates for the award such as Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees as well as David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox. Morneau is the first Canadian to win the AL MVP award, and only the second Canadian to win an MVP award. (Larry Walker won the National League MVP award in 1997 with the Colorado Rockies.) Meanwhile, Ryan Howard, the Philadelphia Phillies’ first baseman cleaned up the National League awards. He was voted NL Most Outstanding Player by his fellow players, NL Rookie of the Year, and NL MVP! Talk about taking home the hardware! The only other National League award winner not named Ryan Howard is Brandon Webb, who took home the NL Cy Young award as the best pitcher in the regular season. In the American League award category, Johan Santana (Justin Morneau’s teammate) won the AL Cy Young award as the AL’s best pitcher throughout the regular season. The Rookie of the Year award went to Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Justin Verlander, who helped the Tigers get to the World Series.

NHL NEWS The NHL held its Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on Monday, November 13. Four outstanding contributors to hockey were honoured. They were: The goaltender with the most wins in NHL history, Patrick Roy, the late Herb Brooks (who coached team U.S.A. to the “miracle on ice”), Calgary Flames front office man Harley Hotchkiss, and Montreal Canadiens legend Dicky Duff. All of these men deserve their inductions for their incredible feats on and off the ice. Congrats to all of them. In case you missed these games, I have some other important events that occurred in the NHL so far this season:

• Friday, November 3. Dallas Stars vs. Edmonton Oilers. NHL referee Mick McGeough (pronounced “McGoo”) blew a call on a hand pass that never really happened. The call came with just under 7 seconds left in the game. Edmonton won the face-off and scored, but the play was whistled down just before the goal occurred. McGeough thought he saw a hand pass from the Edmonton player that won the face off, but the replay clearly showed that the pass was made with the stick. The call was not reviewed, and the Oilers lost the game because of the ref’s mistake. McGeough apologized after the game, and was not fined or suspended by the NHL.

• Saturday, November 4. The Leafs defeat the Sabres 4-1, handing Buffalo its first regulation loss of the season. Also, Nashville defeated Minnesota, giving the Wild their first home loss of the season.

• Thursday, November 9. Anaheim vs. Vancouver. Anaheim defeats Vancouver by a 6-0 margin to break the NHL record for the most games played to start a season without a regulation loss (16). The

Ducks eclipsed the previous record held by the 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers.

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• Tuesday, November 21. Jaromir Jagr scores two goals against the Carolina Hurricanes, and becomes the NHL’s all-time leading European scorer. Jagr scored twice against the Hurricanes, just two nights after he recorded his 600th career NHL goal.

WHAT’S WRONG IN PHILLY AND PHOENIX? The Philadelphia Flyers are the most underachieving team in the NHL right now. Why? Their offense isn’t scoring, and their defense is just too slow, leaving their goalies (Robert Esche and Antero Niittymaki) to suffer through the horrendous play. Peter Forsberg has not had a very successful game all season long, and Darian Hatcher has the worst plus/minus rating in the NHL among defensemen. The Flyers already fired their head coach, and their General Manager resigned. The same deal could be in the works for Phoenix. The Coyotes are at the bottom of the Western Conference, and Wayne Gretzky could very well be on the hot seat if the Coyotes don’t drastically improve. In NBA news, the Raptors had a terrible west coast road trip, and are currently under .500. If there is one positive for the Raptors, it’s that Chris Bosh continues to be the franchises’ leader. He could very well be an MVP caliber player for the Raptors. Let’s hope they keep him around for a long time! In CFL news, the British Columbia Lions won the 94th Grey Cup on Sunday, November 19 in Winnipeg. The Lions defeated the Montreal Alouettes, who were making yet another appearance in the Grey Cup game. Dave Dickenson, the Lion’s quarterback, was named the MVP of the game. In closing, best of luck this holiday season! Hope you all enjoy your winter break. NHL fans, I salute you!

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Colin Barrie

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DO YOU EVER WONDER … SAMANTHA WHITE

Do you ever wonder … why life is the way it is?

Why on the outside we still wanna grow up but on the inside we are still kids?

Do you ever wonder …

what you would do without your love? To not have that person by your side, the one you have always dreamed of?

Do you ever wonder …

if people would miss you if you were gone? Would they live their normal lives

or have trouble going on?

Do you ever wonder … if they mean it when they say I love you?

Do you have doubt that they mean it or do you fully believe it’s true?

Do you ever wonder …

what it would be like to lose your best friend? To have no one there for you

would you life soon end?

Do you ever wonder … how it feels to hold so much pain

That you would want to end your life to end the hurt and shame?

Do you ever wonder …

what life would be like in someone else’s shoes? If you dealt with the same pain they did

would you deal with it the same way too?

Do you ever wonder … if life is worth living the pain?

Do you ever look at your wrist and pray you hit a vein?

Do you ever wonder …

what its like to feel alone? To hold in all your secrets

or have no scars shown?

Do you ever wonder …

if you are really going to make it through? Is everything really going to be okay?

Don’t you wish you knew?

Do you ever wonder … or do you know?

Do you have the hurt inside? Do you have the scars to show?

Do you wonder …

or do you ask? Do you let out your emotions

or hide behind a mask?

Do you wonder … I do all the time

about other people’s problems As well as mine

I hide behind the mask

and no emotions are shown I have told people secrets

that no one should have known

I have felt unloved and wanted to run away and without my friends

I would not be here today

I have been put in positions when I was unsure of what to do

I know I am not the only one have you?

We all wonder but when it comes down to it

Do we think twice about our actions? Do we think of ourselves

or about everyone else’s reactions?

Truth is, we all make mistakes and our expectations are often under

Everything happens for a reason so think about it … and wonder

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ASK APHRODITE THE MAVERICK’S OWN ADVICE

COLUMN If you’d like to ask Aphrodite a question, about anything at all—please

do—we have the perfect way for you to do so, and it’s totally confidential.

Go to the following website and submit your question using the form

provided. It will show up in Aphrodite’s inbox and will be answered via the Maverick—but nobody will ever know your name, email address, or

even IP address. Guaranteed.

http://www.geocities.com/mhs_askaphrodite/advice.html

Or, if you prefer to do things the old-fashioned way, drop your query off with Diane Lewis, or email Aphrodite at

[email protected] Dear Aphrodite, I am a guy, and I am obsessed with how I look! I try to stop but I can’t help but keep a mirror on hand. At all times! Am I a freak? Dear Mirror, Mirror, You are definitely not a freak (at least not because you are concerned with how you look). Tons of people (both girls and guys!) care about how they look. Trust me, it’s perfectly normal. If it is, however, a noticeable obsession, then you should try to tone it down. If you are worried and have low confidence, looks can’t really fix the problem. As long as you are a great person inside (corny, I know), you don’t need too many mirrors!

- Aphrodite

Dear Aphrodite, I have a huge thing for my best friend’s girl. I want to back off, but I can’t help myself. How can I get this off-limits girl out of my mind? Dear Crushin’ Third Wheel, Whoa, yeah, this sucks! Haha! I’m teasing, but it is hard. I can’t magically change your feelings, and I doubt you can instantly either. You just have to swallow the fact she’s with another guy. Obviously she cares for your friend or she wouldn’t be wasting her time. It is a massive case of bad timing (very, very bad timing). If I do find Cupid, though, I’ll send him your way!

- Aphrodite Dear Aphrodite, I dance, play basketball, work and I have homework coming out my eyes! If I don’t die soon I’ll at least have a complete breakdown! Help!! Dear Super Achiever, I am totally envious of your energy! But, wow, you definitely have your plate full. It is very important for you to have time to yourself. Plus (not to steal the words of your mother), school should be at the top of your priority list. You may want to ask your coach or dance instructor for some understanding if you take a break now and again. They should be understanding. Hopefully the rush of busyness isn’t here to stay, but as long as you work hard, the final outcome will be all bells and whistles.

- Aphrodite

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Aries ( March 21 – April 20 ) : You will be in a somewhat crappy mood around the 4th. Playing old board games with your funniest friends will cheer you up. Stay home on the 19th, this will be the time when you feel connected to your family.

Lucky Days: 3, 18, 22

Taurus ( March 21 – May 20 ) : You’ll feel passionate about everything this month—school, family, and friends. Beware of sad or scary movies—they will make you cry for hours. You’re also in the creative mode, maybe try making your own holiday cards of crafts.

Lucky Days: 9, 18, 22

Gemini ( May 21 – June 21 ) : You’ll be tempted to make others feel bad. Fight the urges, try biting your tongue, anything offensive that pops into your head will end up having very bad consequences.

Lucky Days: 5, 15, 25

Cancer (June 22 – July 22 ) : You are hot and juicy this month. Share yourself with the one you love or find someone to love. After the 30th, you enter a very busy time that will bring you projects, and people into your life of which you never dreamed.

Lucky Days: 4, 11, 25

Leo ( July 23 – August 22) : Life is great after the 17th: You’re happy and motivated to make stunning gifts for everybody on your list, not mentioning holiday treats for your special someone. It will pay off for the best.

Lucky Days: 12, 19, 31

Virgo ( August 23 – September 22 ) : Stress is ruling your life this month, what with mid-terms and exams coming up at school, and you don’t especially feel like working. Maybe ask a teacher for an extension on a project or maybe just go for extra help.

Lucky Days: 6, 16, 24

Libra ( September 23 – October 23 ) : You’re focused on clearing things up with friends and family in this month. Remember: Reconciliation doesn’t mean you now have to spend a lot of money on presents.

Lucky Days: 7, 26, 31

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Scorpio ( October 24 – November 22 ) : The

combined energy from everyone around you puts you in an overachiever mode. You’ll accomplish more than you have all year. You’re also in the mood to clean. Try helping out around the house.

Lucky Days: 2, 20, 25

Sagittarius ( November 23 – December 21 ) : You are filled with energy and optimism and you will be rewarded for all your participation in the events that you are in—always volunteering for group leader or getting together cover bands for talent shows. But watch your mouth— you could end up saying things you don’t mean.

Lucky Days: 12, 21, 30

Capricorn ( December 22 – January 20 ) : Misunderstandings on the 1st can heal themselves by the 7th if you really want them to. A seemingly hopeless situation on the 12th will be ended, and new possibilities will open up later in the month.

Lucky Days: 9, 18, 30

Aquarius ( January 21 – February 19 ) : You’re easily annoyed these days, and everything your friends do is grating on you. Go online on the 13th and talk to some friends or even people you don’t really know, sometimes strangers give really good advice.

Lucky Days: 2, 18, 25

Pisces ( February 20 – March 20 ) : Good energy in your sign makes you the most giving person ever. You genuinely want to help others, so find a place where you can volunteer. Around the middle of the month someone in your family will give you earth-shattering news!

Lucky Days: 1, 13, 25

WHAT’S HAPPENING Kids who are interested in journalism and/or creative writing should take a look at these contests. If you’re interested in any of them, see Diane Lewis for more info.

→ The Mathieu da Costa Challenge This contest is open to kids ages 9-18 in three different age categories. It’s for a piece of artwork or original writing (essay, short story, poem, etc.) that illustrates how ethno-cultural groups (like African-Canadians or First Nations people) have contributed to the development of the country we know and love. The prize is a 3-day all-expense-paid trip to an awards ceremony in Halifax. www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/mathieudacosta

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→ St. Thomas University Student Journalism Awards for Atlantic Canada

These awards are for print journalism done by high school students. Top prizes are $1500, and scholarships to STU’s journalism programme. www.stu-sja.ca

On February 18, ROCK HAVOC with JA in support of the AIDS Coalition of Cape Breton. The Northside Junior Achievement Company this year is called HAVOC—Helping AIDS Victims in Our Community—and they’re having a show. Admission is only $8, it’s at the Membertou Trade & Convention Centre from 1-10 PM, and all proceeds go towards the ACCB. 11 Canadians are diagnosed with AIDS every day, and we don’t know how many people are HIV positive and don’t know it. It should be an awesome time and the money goes towards a good cause. Bands include: Violent Theory, Fatal Tragedy, Two Sided Story, Blind Horizon, All of Things, Area 52, Revolution 27, and MHS’s own The Crisp. Advance tickets can be purchased starting in late December or early January from JA company members. T-shirts with the Rock HAVOC logo on the right will also be available from JA members anytime or at the event. The cost is only $13 each, and again, all the proceeds go to the ACCB to help Cape Bretoners living with HIV and AIDS and to promote AIDS awareness in our community.

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HOLIDAY PET PICTURES

Reilly as Rudolph Ainslie as Santa’s reindeer

Remember, we are still looking for your pet pictures! Submit them for

January’s humor issue using the guidelines on page 2.

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