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The Clackamas Print
February 27, 2003
Local authors amuse audience
A&E Editor
LUKE MAHAN Clackamas Print
Local authors Susan Fletcher (left) and Carmen Bernier-
Crand spoke in the Cregory Forum Wednesday, Feb. 19.
Approximately 30 people gath
ered on Feb. 19 in the Gregory
Forum to hear two local authors
read and speak.
Winter term’s Authors’ Night,
put together by instructor Allen
Widerburg,
featured
Carmen
Bernier-Grand and Susan Fletcher,
and concentrated on children’s and
young adults’ fiction stories.
Both writers had great senses of
humor, and kept the audience laugh
ing throughout the course of the
night. Fletcher read two passages,
one from her novel “Walk Across
the Sea,” which is the story of the
Chinese people’s expulsion from a
small town by the ocean. The sec
ond came from her novel “Shadow
Artist: Avenged Sevenfold | Album: Sounding the Seventh Trumpet
News Editor
In a time in music when absolute
ly anything is possible, Avenged
Sevenfold’s “Sounding the Seventh
Trumpet” takes a step back from the
now popular sample-enhanced rock
and puts forth an explosive 13 song
debut album that can be labeled noth
ing less than amazing!
The Orange County-based five
piece is so focused on their work
that, according to Meanstreet maga
zine writer Waleed Rashidi, “They
(the band) went as far as stripping
their true identities for assumed
names to place the emphasis on what
matters most - the music.” They all
refer to each other by nicknames.
Their true names are unknown.
Like friends and labelmates
Thrice, Avenged Sevenfold members
hate being defined as any single
genre of music. Their blend of heavy
rock riffs, punk ethos, and all out
hardcore guarantees a good time.
Avenged members truly don’t adhere
to any scene, trend, or “clique” with
in the current music industry. The
band, who more or less takes the lis
tener on a musical rollercoaster of
softs and louds, plays more hard rock
than soft. However, in songs like
“Warmness on the Soul” the band
proves that anyone can tune the noise
down a notch for some great piano
playing.
Singer “M. Shadows,” who cites
Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose as
one of his musical mentors, melds his
harmonic singing with a murderous
growl to help create a non-stereotyp
ical hard rock album.
“Recorded in less than a week,
with veteran producer Donnell
Cameron, ‘Sounding The Seventh
Trumpet’ is highlighted by the
intense guitar and bass riffings of
guitarists
‘Zacky
Vengeance’,
‘Synyster Gates’, and bassist
‘Dameon Ash’. The tracks of
‘Sounding the Seventh Trumpet’ are
seamlessly driven by the double-kick
drum accents and patterns of drum
mer ‘The Reverend Tholomew
Plaque’, who in a remarkable feat,
banged out over half of the tracks in
a single take,” wrote Rashidi.
Phenomenally technical arrange
ments and unfathomable instrumen
tation puts Avenged Sevenfold’s
music in its own category.
“Avenged
Sevenfold’s
‘Sounding The Seventh Trumpet’
puts aspiri-on the entire umbrella of
hard and heavy rock,” wrote
Rashidi.
As one of the most anticipated
bands of 2003, Avenged is preparing
to enter the studio in April to record
a new full-length album expected to
hit stores this summer before the
nationwide Warped Tour.
Go out and buy Avenged
Sevenfold’s “Sounding the Seventh
Trumpet.” True music connoisseurs
will want to hear one of the most
musically important bands to date.
♦PROPS FOR ALL STYLES* -
I’ve gotta give a shout out to 50
Cent who currently stands in the
limelight of the rap game with the
number one album in the world and
is backed by thé strongest producer
and lyricist in the industry to date.
Artist: 50 Cent | Album: Get Rich or Die Trying
If you’re looking for a new
album this month, you might want
to consider South Side Jamaica
Queens rapper 50 Cent’s “Get Rich
or Die Trying.”
The album includes 16 new
tracks, three bonus tracks, and a
limited edition full length docu
mentary DVD, “Get Rich or Die
Trying” the movie. This album
might be the steal of the year. The
follow-up to 50 Cent’s fl)99 under
ground hit “Power of tha Dollar”
brings a new style of fap as well as
a new set of high profile producers.
50 brings his “gangsta” attitude
to light in this-brilliant mix of
street anthems, club “bangers” and
two rap love ballads “Like My
Style” and “21 questions.” In 1999
he was shot nine times outside his
grandparents’ home in Jamaica
Queens, New York. In and' out of
prison for the last three years, it’s
evident that 50’s street credibility
is no joke.
Teaming
up
with
Shady/Aftermath records, 50
Cent’s new ‘ lyrical flow’ is highly
influenced by industry legends Dr.
Dre, and Eminem.
When asked about production
on his documentary 50 said, “If
Dre says I shouldn’t do it, I’ll
scrap it.”
Trackmaster’s beat production’
on “Tha Power of the Dollar” is in
no way inferior to that of Dr. Dre’s.
work on “Get Rich or Die Trying.”
Dre has the industry connections to
push 50 Cent and his gangsta atti
tude into mainstream music with
put selling 50 out. Eminem has the
appeal to the teen crowd to push
record salés.
“Get Rich or Die Trying” is not
for innocent ears. With sharp
gangsta cuts, including: “What’s
up Gangsta?” “Many Men”, and
“Heat,” 50 Cent clearly holds noth
ing back. Attacking fellow rapper
Ja Rule on “Back Down,” 50 goes
right after mainstream rap without
looking in his rearview.
Be prepared for a style oFrap
never heard before. 50 Cent is not
afraid to spit raw lyrics that will
offend most unless they understand
his genre of music. Comparisons
to the late rappers Tupac Shakur
and
Christopher
Wallace
(Notorious B.I.G.) have made this
CD the most highly anticipated rap
album since Shakur’s 1995 classic
All Eyez on Me.
Spinner.” This story was slightly
harder to follow, as it takes place in
another country and the language is
a bit more difficult to understand.
The descriptions were extremely
visual though, which made it easier
to follow.
For her novel “Walk Across the
Sea” Fletcher practically had to
learn a new language. “It took me
about a year before I could sit down
and full sentences would come out,”
she said.
“With writing historical fiction
you don’t have to make stuff up,”
Fletcher explained when asked how
she gets the information for her nov
els. “Making stuff up is hard.”
Bernier-Grand started her pres
entation with a short riddle from her
native country, Puerto Rico. She
then launched into the story of
Cesario Chavez, which was a bit
more dim and serious. Her third,
final, and longest story, “You’re a
Señorita,” came from her soon-to-be
published collection of short stories
for young girls, “Period Pieces.”
Bernier-Grand is a large ball of
fire in a tiny package. As she read
her final story, she was animated
and amusing. The story of a young
girl getting her first period is a hard
subject, but she tackled it wonder
fully, and had the entire room laugh
ing (including the males). A young
lady in the audience asked Bernier-
Grand why she chose the topic of
menstruation. Bernier-Grand simply
stated, “Oh, I’m sure everyone has a
story.”
Both authors have their bache
lors and masters degrees, Fletcher in
English and Bernier-Grand in math.
Bernier-Grand went on to get her
Ph.D. in math.
Love on the rocks in
'The Quiet American'
Staff Writer
A love triangle igniting amidst the
explosions of war describes Miramax
Film’s recent release of “The Quiet
American,” starring Michael Caine
and Brendan Fraser.
The remake of the 1958 film star
ring Michael Redgrave and Audie
Murphy was originally scheduled for
release in the fall of 2001. In light of
Sept, 11, the release was delayed and
nearly did not make its big screen
debut, as direct-to-video was predict
ed. Caine and Director Phillip Noyce
(“Rabbit Proof Fence”) fought to
defend its belated release.
Caine plays the role of Thomas
Fowler, a reporter for the London
Times who is based in Saigon to
cover its corruption and the impend
ing conflict between the Communists
in North Vietnam and the French
colonialists fighting for control of the
country.
The burnt out, opium-addicted
Fowler is in love with a young
Vietnamese woman named Phuong,
played by Do Thi Hai Yen. He is no
longer motivated by his work, but by
the adoration of his liVe-in mistress
whom he would marry if only his
wife, who resides in London, would
grant him a divorce.
Enter Alden Pyle, as the quiet
American of the title (Brendan
Fraser), who introduces himself to
Fowler as a medical-aid provider.
The two Americans form a friendship
with Phuong in the center, as the
object of both their affections.
Pyle is honest with Fowler about
his feelings for Phuong, , purporting
love at first sight. He-feels"he can
offer her marriage and a passport out
of her tumultuous homeland, whereas
Fowler cannot. -
The movie begins with an already
murdered Pyle. The rest of the movie
is a flashback revealing the events
leading up to the murder. Caine1
offers an effective narrative through
out the movie to enhance the under
tone of the story. Towards the end of
the story a twist piques intrigue, but is
underdeveloped and anticlimactic.
While Caine and Fraser provide
wonderful performances, in the case
of “The Quiet American” the plot is
somewhat camouflaged by the front
burning love story. I would have
enjoyed more exploration into
America’s entanglement of the pre
war intricacies, which were only
vaguely examined.
“The Quiet American” is current
ly playing at Fox Tower, located at
SW Park and Taylor.
INTERNET PHOTO
Alden Pyle (Brendan Fraser) and Thomas Fowler (Michael
Caine) exchange words in last year’s dramatic film‘The
Quiet American,’ currently playing at Fox Tower.