Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2009)
14 ApÄ Guitar All-Stars strike chord at school concert Nico V arela Staff Reporter Guitarists and music fans alike saw an impressive showcase of student talent at the Guitar All-Stars Concert on March 11. Both acoustic and electric guitar music filled the auditorium with wonderful sounds. The show began with local Grammy winning guitarist Mark Hanson playing a few numbers, including an acoustic song with his wife, Greta Pedersen. Then Halynn Blanchard, sophomore, joined Hanson on stage for a duet of the Turtle's "Happy Together." Hanson then proceeded as the night's master of ceremonies. Hanson organized the concert in conjunction with Music and Arts Partners, the adult group that raises money for school arts and music events. After the auditions, Hanson worked with the performers for three months to prepare them for the concert. Thomas Pittenger, junior, was the first player of the night to use an electric guitar. He used a wah pedal in his cover of Jimi Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary." The first original song of the night was an uptempo acoustic song performed by Alexander Earhart, junior. Samuel Samuel Huck and Donevan Karr, sophomores, perform their original song "My Voice” at the March 11 guitar concert. The Guitar All-Stars concert featured the culmination of three months of preparation alongside Grammy winning guitarist, Mark Hanson. Photo by Nico Varela Huck and Donevan Karr, sophomores, followed Earhart with an original song of their own. The audience responded well to the two’s witty lyrics from their, "My Voice." Josh Clark, sophomore, then played an acoustic number and the last performer before the short intermission was Chase Wanamaker, senior. After some technical difficulties, Wanamaker ensued to shred guitar with his cover of "Bed of Razors," by Children of Bodom. "Pay it Forward, S hoshana K o ON Staff Reporter The inspirational book "Pay it Forward" by Catherine Ryan Hyde is a must read. Filled with motivation, drama, love and the reality of life, it is not only about being kind to one another or doing good things but about hope and faith. Sometimes all people need is for someone to believe in them and encourage them. For example, in the story a woman was about to jump off a bridge when a man came up to C A T H her and coaxed R yan her off the ledge with just a few kind words. The only way to fully grasp the value of what this book has to say is to read it and then tell others about it, essentially paying it forward. "Pay it Forward" will touch your heart in such a way, that you won't want to put the book down until it is over and then once it is, you'll be hesitant to let it go. It is heartfelt, inspiring and truly amazing. As you read the book you watch how relationships grow and change, and it's almost as if the characters are just as real and alive as you. The emotions the characters feel are so profound that you notice yourself empathizing with them. In this uplifting book, a young boy named Trevor walks into his seventh grade social ^ studies class not knowing how dramatically his world is about to change... literally. Written on the board are the words, "Think of a way E R 1 N E you can change H yde the world, and put it into action." From that extra credit opportunity, Trevor thinks globally and comes up with the most interesting idea. He chooses three people that he thinks needs help and decides to help them in major ways. One of them is a homeless person that he invites into his house for food and a shower. He also gives him over $100 of his savings "It was really nerve-racking, but it was worth it. It was great that I had my friends there for support," Wanamaker said. The concert returned from the break with two original songs by 1998 WLHS grad Tyler Stenson. Stenson was named Portland's "Performing Songwriter of the Year" in both 2007 and 2008. Next the sophomore duo of Summer Veil: and Travis Andersen took the stage. Veit sang as Andersen accompanied with his acoustic guitar to perform an original called "Be All Right." After two Wilsonville acts, Zachary Ritz, senior, sang and played acoustic on his song called "Motivation." Following Ritz was Two Peace Victory, a band made up of Troy Spivey and Jacob Weston, seniors. They performed their original song called "Stars and Shadows." "Like I said on stage, great music can come from humble beginnings," Spivey said. "People need to realize that music is really important. Like really important." Kyle Revilla, junior, performed Death Cab for Cutie's, "I'll Follow You into the Dark." Oliver Jackson, freshman, showcased his talent by playing acoustic guitar to end the student performances. Hanson ended the show playing two songs alongside guitar teachers Matt Whitehead and Andrew Webster from Wilsonville and West Linn, respectively. "It was a real kick to play the trios at the end with Andrew and Matt. It reminded me of how much fun it is to play in a band," Hanson said. The concert far exceeded my expectations of what a $5 concert would deliver. Everyone had a solid stage presence and performed with confidence. The original songs were quite impressive and the covers displayed some mighty fine guitar playing. If this concert continues, I wo . ^ L highly advise attending and ■ watching some first-class performers. Señor Hico and ?!5C Q)ip present Dragons—their everyday life revealed "demands attention m Nico V arela & M ark C hspperfe and hands his paper route over to him for two weeks. When the three people that he chose say, "How can I pay you back?" Trevor simply says, "Don't. Pay it forward." That causes those three people to help three other people and so on. Each act quickly becomes * a link in the chain of kindness. Though discouraged by classmates and other peers, it's exactly what he set out to do, with little knowledge of just how far it would actually go. There is a movie based on the book that came out in 2000. It follows the story fairly closely, but like all movies, has slight alterations. It stars Helen Hunt (Trevor's mom), Kevin Spacey (the new teacher), Haley Joel Osment (Trevor McKenny), and Jon bon Jovi (Trevor's deadbeat father). The order in which events occur in the movie make more sense and fits together better than in the book and the ending has more of an impact. However, the movie portrays the relationship between the mother and boy to be far worse than it actually is, and makes the boy behave more defiantly. The book is available at libraries as well as bookstores and the movie is available for rental and sale. Staff Reporters Wablam! Shazam! What was that? I don’t know, so let us start out with a brief history lesson. Dragons were origi nally birthed in the foothills of China. In the age of the di nosaurs, a pterodactyl and a T- Rex crossbred. The result was a litter of 12 scaled, winged, fire breathing dragons. Since that time, a mix of humans and other creatures have tried to e x - \ \ %. term in ate th e earth. \\j Today, o n l y three survive. The oldest of them is an orange dragon named Balthazar. He is the ^ 1 wisest of the three. The Artwork youngest but biggest is Elrog, a green dragon that just does what he does. The middle child is a blue backed, orange bellied dragon named Falknor. Falknor is blessed with the ability to read. Now for the tale. One day while they were eat ing, they saw lightning above in the sky. They considered fleeing when entered the cave a massive Norwegian guy. Magnus was his name and slaying dragons was his game. His sword shone bright, then the dragons took flight. Until they remembered they were in a cave. They feared they were laying in their grave. Elrog saw Magnus had ridiculously long hair and decided to set it aflare. Magnus let out a violent scream and fled to the nearest stream. Now they saw their " chance, did a little dance, and took M agnus's la n ce as Balthazar led the way to France. H o w ev er, F a 1 k n o r went back tostealMag- by Brennan Wagner nUs'booksto read, while Elrog peeled back to feed on his noble steed. Yes, indeed. Magnus then returned, his head a little burned. He saw his horse was eaten dead and his books had been read. Magnus was really, really, mad. Then Balthazar ate him. end. A - s k
